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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. branch — a division
  3. root — of a word
  4. mine — for digging
  5. spell — letters
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wind — moving air
  8. hand — help
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cap — a lid
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. track — to keep track
  13. hand — in cards
  14. cap — a hat
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. track — a path
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. spell — a short time
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. track — a song
  21. cap — of ice
  22. wind — moving air
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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