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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. root — of a word
  3. object — an aim
  4. root — of a plant
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. clip — to cut
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. clip — for paper
  14. row — to paddle
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — a thing
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. clip — a video
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rush — hurry
  23. root — the cause
  24. row — a line

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