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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. root — of a plant
  3. net — in sport
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. shower — rain
  6. net — for catching
  7. content — happy
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. content — the amount
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. plane — a tool
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. prune — to trim
  18. shower — to wash
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. net — after costs
  22. prune — to trim
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a word

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