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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. land — to come down
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. land — a country
  7. land — ground
  8. root — the cause
  9. rash — a series
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bound — certain
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bound — obliged
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. root — of a plant
  18. tube — a container
  19. root — of a word
  20. bound — tied together
  21. perch — the fish
  22. snap — to click
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. rash — hasty

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