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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 had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. root — of a plant
  3. clip — for paper
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. root — the cause
  6. file — a line of people
  7. root — of a word
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. clip — to cut
  10. drill — army training
  11. file — a document
  12. drill — the tool
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bass — low music
  17. file — a tool
  18. bass — the fish
  19. wound — an injury
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. clip — a video
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a path
  24. track — a song

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