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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — a practice
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. row — a line
  6. ground — crushed
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. squash — the sport
  11. row — to paddle
  12. drill — army training
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. mine — for digging
  15. squash — to crush
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. ground — the earth
  19. kid — child
  20. root — of a plant
  21. ground — a position
  22. root — the cause
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. mine — belonging to me

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