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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. root — the cause
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mate — a friend
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. field — farmland
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. root — of a plant
  15. field — for sport
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. rest — what's left
  19. root — of a word
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. dip — to sink
  22. field — a subject
  23. mate — to breed
  24. wind — moving air

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