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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bank — of a river
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chair — a leader
  8. track — a song
  9. root — the cause
  10. bank — for money
  11. bound — tied together
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. track — to keep track
  15. bound — certain
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bank — for money
  18. dip — to sink
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bound — obliged
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — of a word

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