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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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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: root · racket · ground · prune · craft · cold · object · file

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. file — a tool
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. ground — the earth
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. object — a thing
  7. craft — boats
  8. cold — not warm
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a document
  11. cold — an illness
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. craft — a skill
  15. ground — crushed
  16. root — of a word
  17. object — an aim
  18. root — of a plant
  19. ground — a position
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. root — the cause
  24. prune — to trim

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