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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: march · net · leaves · bat · root · rush · kid · content

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. root — of a word
  3. march — music
  4. root — of a plant
  5. march — the month
  6. content — happy
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. rush — hurry
  11. bat — the animal
  12. net — for catching
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. net — in sport
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. kid — child
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. root — the cause
  23. net — after costs
  24. march — the month

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