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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 116 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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. root — of a word
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. season — of the year
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. root — of a plant
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. season — in sport
  13. row — to paddle
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. root — the cause
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wax — to grow
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. rush — hurry
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. row — a line
  24. sharp — clever

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