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

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. roll — a cake
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. chest — of your body
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. chest — of your body
  8. root — the cause
  9. chest — a box
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. chair — a leader
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. wake — a trail
  15. root — of a word
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cell — a phone
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. roll — a list
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. root — of a plant
  24. cell — in biology

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