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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. fall — the season
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. root — of a plant
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. bat — the animal
  8. fall — to drop
  9. drill — a practice
  10. saw — the tool
  11. root — of a word
  12. saw — the tool
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — army training
  15. ground — a position
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. spring — of water
  18. ground — the earth
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. spring — the season
  21. root — the cause
  22. fall — to drop
  23. spring — a coil
  24. branch — a division

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