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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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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: wound · land · mine · cap · ball · root · perch · tear

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. cap — of ice
  3. ball — a dance
  4. root — of a plant
  5. land — to come down
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. perch — the fish
  8. mine — for digging
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wound — an injury
  11. root — of a word
  12. ball — a great time
  13. land — a country
  14. land — ground
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. cap — a lid
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wound — an injury
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cap — a hat
  23. root — the cause
  24. perch — for a bird

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