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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 116 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. tear — from crying
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. game — a match
  6. cap — a hat
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cap — a lid
  10. root — of a word
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. tear — from crying
  14. root — of a plant
  15. cap — of ice
  16. content — happy
  17. tear — to rip
  18. rule — a law
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. root — the cause
  22. rule — government
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — wild animals

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