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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. field — for sport
  5. root — of a plant
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. file — a document
  9. field — a subject
  10. snap — to click
  11. root — the cause
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. field — farmland
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. file — a line of people
  20. root — of a word
  21. deal — to handle
  22. row — to paddle
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. file — a tool

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