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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. file — a line of people
  5. root — the cause
  6. chair — a leader
  7. prune — to trim
  8. mate — to breed
  9. land — a country
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. land — ground
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. mate — a partner
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. file — a document
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. land — to come down
  19. root — of a plant
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. file — a tool
  23. fork — in a road
  24. root — of a word

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