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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. cue — a signal
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. swing — to play on
  6. mark — a trace
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. swing — music
  10. kid — child
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cue — a hint
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. root — the cause
  16. mark — a grade
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. scale — in music
  20. cue — for pool
  21. kid — to tease
  22. swing — in golf
  23. root — of a plant
  24. scale — size or range

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