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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 120 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: arm · mouse · perch · spell · root · ground · swing · clip

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. swing — in golf
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. ground — a position
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. clip — a video
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — music
  10. clip — to cut
  11. ground — crushed
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. ground — the earth
  16. spell — letters
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. clip — for paper
  19. perch — the fish
  20. spell — a short time
  21. root — of a plant
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. spell — magic
  24. root — the cause

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