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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. current — happening now
  3. game — wild animals
  4. root — the cause
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hand — help
  8. root — of a plant
  9. game — a match
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — a series
  14. prune — to trim
  15. current — of water
  16. root — of a word
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wind — moving air
  21. current — electric
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. hand — in cards

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