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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. chair — a leader
  3. present — the time now
  4. spring — of water
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stock — goods
  11. root — the cause
  12. root — of a plant
  13. present — there
  14. rush — hurry
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stock — shares
  17. present — a gift
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. cell — in biology
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. cell — a phone
  23. root — of a word
  24. spring — the season

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