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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. sharp — clever
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wound — an injury
  8. squash — to crush
  9. root — of a plant
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. snap — to click
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wound — an injury
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. content — happy
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. content — the amount
  18. root — the cause
  19. cold — an illness
  20. saw — the tool
  21. squash — the sport
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. content — videos and posts

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