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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. shower — rain
  5. root — of a plant
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to confront
  8. file — a line of people
  9. shower — to wash
  10. date — the fruit
  11. face — to point toward
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. ground — crushed
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. prune — to trim
  16. root — of a word
  17. prune — to trim
  18. root — the cause
  19. ground — the earth
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. file — a document
  22. land — a country
  23. file — a tool
  24. ground — a position

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