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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: land · lie · chair · clip · kid · root · fork · wound

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. root — the cause
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. land — to come down
  6. fork — in a road
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. land — ground
  10. land — a country
  11. kid — child
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chair — a leader
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. lie — to recline
  18. root — of a plant
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wound — an injury
  23. clip — a video
  24. fork — a garden tool

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