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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. net — in sport
  2. chest — of your body
  3. row — a line
  4. toast — bread
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. root — of a word
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. cell — a phone
  9. root — of a plant
  10. cell — in biology
  11. chest — of your body
  12. row — to paddle
  13. land — a country
  14. wax — to grow
  15. land — ground
  16. land — to come down
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. net — for catching
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. net — after costs
  23. chest — a box
  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