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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. root — of a plant
  4. root — the cause
  5. rock — a stone
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. row — a line
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. rock — music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. row — to paddle
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. pound — a weight
  22. kid — child
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. calf — a young animal

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