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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. root — of a plant
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. file — a document
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. root — of a word
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. capital — money
  13. root — the cause
  14. row — to paddle
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. file — a line of people
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. date — the fruit
  20. clip — to cut
  21. capital — a city
  22. row — a line
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. clip — a video

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