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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. land — to come down
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. wind — moving air
  7. court — of a king
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. court — of law
  11. land — ground
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. land — a country
  14. root — of a plant
  15. tube — a container
  16. root — the cause
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. court — for sport
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wind — moving air
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. lash — an eyelash

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