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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: track · mine · bowl · pop · swing · sharp · tear · root

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. root — of a plant
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. track — a song
  6. tear — to rip
  7. pop — soda
  8. pop — to visit
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — for digging
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. root — the cause
  14. swing — in golf
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. swing — to play on
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. track — a path
  21. track — to keep track
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. swing — music
  24. pop — music

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