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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. land — ground
  5. root — of a word
  6. fall — to drop
  7. hand — help
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. file — a document
  11. root — the cause
  12. file — a tool
  13. fall — to drop
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. file — a line of people
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. fall — the season
  21. root — of a plant
  22. land — a country
  23. hand — in cards
  24. land — to come down

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