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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. root — of a word
  4. toast — bread
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — not warm
  7. root — of a plant
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. tear — to rip
  12. spell — magic
  13. root — the cause
  14. spell — a short time
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. spell — letters
  22. tear — from crying
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. tube — the underground

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