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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  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. coach — pulled by horses
  2. foot — a measure
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. root — of a word
  7. sharp — clever
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. clip — a video
  11. pop — music
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pop — to visit
  14. kick — in football
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pop — soda
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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