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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. root — of a plant
  3. spring — of water
  4. kid — to tease
  5. spring — a coil
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. net — after costs
  8. vault — a safe
  9. root — the cause
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. kid — child
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. spring — the season
  20. fork — in a road
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. perch — the fish
  24. root — of a word

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