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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 · land · straw · mate · kick · drill · present · game

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. mate — a partner
  5. land — ground
  6. game — wild animals
  7. root — of a word
  8. root — the cause
  9. land — a country
  10. mate — to breed
  11. drill — a practice
  12. mate — a friend
  13. kick — in football
  14. present — there
  15. drill — the tool
  16. present — a gift
  17. present — the time now
  18. root — of a plant
  19. drill — army training
  20. game — a match
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. land — to come down

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