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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. ball — a great time
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. root — the cause
  8. spring — the season
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. ball — a dance
  12. spring — a coil
  13. root — of a plant
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. sharp — clever
  16. spring — of water
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. kid — to tease
  19. foot — a measure
  20. wake — a trail
  21. kid — child
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. foot — part of the body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com