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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. file — a line of people
  3. prune — to trim
  4. net — for catching
  5. land — a country
  6. file — a tool
  7. root — of a word
  8. bear — the animal
  9. root — of a plant
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bear — the animal
  12. land — ground
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. land — to come down
  15. shower — rain
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. file — a document
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. net — after costs
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. shower — to wash
  23. root — the cause
  24. net — in sport

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