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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  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. perch — for a bird
  2. root — of a word
  3. perch — the fish
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. root — of a plant
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. row — a line
  10. firm — steady
  11. clip — a video
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. firm — decided
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. firm — a company
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. row — to paddle
  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