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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 120 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 ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. drill — the tool
  5. chest — of your body
  6. plane — a tool
  7. game — a match
  8. root — of a word
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spring — of water
  11. drill — army training
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spring — the season
  14. scale — in music
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. chest — a box
  17. root — the cause
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. prune — to trim
  21. scale — size or range
  22. spring — a coil
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. drill — a practice

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