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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 116 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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. land — to come down
  3. wind — moving air
  4. land — ground
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. shower — rain
  7. root — of a plant
  8. clip — for paper
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. clip — a video
  12. land — a country
  13. file — a tool
  14. cue — for pool
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cue — a signal
  17. root — of a word
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — to cut
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. shower — to wash
  22. cue — a hint
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. root — the cause

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