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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 120 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. hand — help
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. file — a tool
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. prune — to trim
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. root — of a plant
  12. root — the cause
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. craft — boats
  15. root — of a word
  16. craft — a skill
  17. prune — to trim
  18. deal — to handle
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. file — a document
  21. hand — in cards
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. file — a line of people
  24. patient — a sick person

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