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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — tied together
  6. land — to come down
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. root — of a plant
  9. clip — a video
  10. last — final
  11. pound — a weight
  12. clip — for paper
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. last — finally
  15. bound — obliged
  16. content — the amount
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. root — the cause
  21. land — ground
  22. content — happy
  23. last — to go on
  24. land — a country

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