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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. root — of a plant
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. mate — a friend
  6. root — the cause
  7. ball — a great time
  8. mate — to breed
  9. file — a document
  10. root — of a word
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. mate — a partner
  14. bat — the animal
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. wind — moving air
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. ball — a dance
  24. patient — a sick person

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