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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. branch — a division
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. dip — to sink
  10. wound — an injury
  11. root — the cause
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. row — a line
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bat — the animal
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. bass — low music
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bass — the fish
  20. row — to paddle
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. root — of a plant
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. bass — the instrument

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