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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · march · root · wind · last · pop

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. 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. pop — music
  2. last — finally
  3. kid — child
  4. root — of a plant
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — soda
  7. wind — moving air
  8. march — the month
  9. kid — to tease
  10. root — of a word
  11. last — to go on
  12. march — the month
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. march — music
  16. wind — moving air
  17. last — final
  18. 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