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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. chair — a leader
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pound — a weight
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. root — of a plant
  13. root — of a word
  14. prune — to trim
  15. branch — a division
  16. row — to paddle
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. foot — a measure
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. root — the cause

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