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

Word bank: clip · ruler · pound · root · track · cell · rash · hand

  1. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. track — a song
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. track — a path
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. root — of a word
  15. cell — in biology
  16. clip — to cut
  17. root — of a plant
  18. cell — a phone
  19. rash — a series
  20. track — to keep track
  21. rash — hasty
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. pound — a weight
  24. ruler — for measuring

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