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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. root — of a word
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rock — a stone
  5. root — of a plant
  6. ball — a great time
  7. field — for sport
  8. present — a gift
  9. ball — a dance
  10. clip — to cut
  11. present — there
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. clip — a video
  15. wake — a trail
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. root — the cause
  23. present — the time now
  24. rock — music

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