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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. pop — to visit
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. present — there
  7. row — a line
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — to be able to
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. root — of a plant
  14. present — the time now
  15. present — a gift
  16. wax — to grow
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a word
  19. can — a tin
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pop — music
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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