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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. wax — to grow
  3. rush — hurry
  4. ground — crushed
  5. root — the cause
  6. game — a match
  7. drill — a practice
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. drill — army training
  12. ground — the earth
  13. pit — a hole
  14. ground — a position
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. root — of a word
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. root — of a plant
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. pit — in a race
  23. game — wild animals
  24. branch — a division

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