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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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. date — the fruit
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. ground — crushed
  7. land — ground
  8. tear — from crying
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. land — a country
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. root — of a word
  13. tear — from crying
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. game — wild animals
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. root — of a plant
  18. tear — to rip
  19. land — to come down
  20. root — the cause
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. game — a match
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. ground — a position

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