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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. bear — the animal
  3. root — the cause
  4. bear — the animal
  5. kid — child
  6. clip — for paper
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. swing — music
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. clip — to cut
  11. swing — to play on
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. squash — to crush
  15. swing — in golf
  16. clip — a video
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — in a race
  19. root — of a plant
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. squash — the sport
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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