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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. cold — not warm
  3. file — a line of people
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cap — of ice
  9. root — of a plant
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. root — the cause
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. file — a document
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. file — a tool

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