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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 · net · root · row · snap · rule · kid · bound

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. row — a line
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — obliged
  6. kid — child
  7. root — of a word
  8. land — to come down
  9. rule — a law
  10. row — to paddle
  11. kid — to tease
  12. land — a country
  13. snap — to click
  14. net — for catching
  15. bound — tied together
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. land — ground
  18. root — of a plant
  19. rule — government
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. net — in sport
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. root — the cause
  24. net — after costs

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