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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. mark — a trace
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. hand — help
  9. root — the cause
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. hand — in cards
  12. perch — the fish
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — to come from
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. root — of a plant
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. sharp — clever
  22. mark — a grade
  23. band — a music group
  24. sharp — with an edge

Multiple-meaning words list

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

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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