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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. net — in sport
  4. root — the cause
  5. hand — in cards
  6. net — after costs
  7. current — happening now
  8. spring — of water
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. current — electric
  13. spring — a coil
  14. current — of water
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. root — of a word
  17. spring — the season
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. hand — help
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. root — of a plant
  24. net — for catching

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