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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. spring — the season
  3. rule — a law
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wound — an injury
  6. spring — of water
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. root — of a plant
  12. can — a tin
  13. root — the cause
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stock — shares
  19. rule — government
  20. stock — goods
  21. spring — a coil
  22. can — to be able to
  23. can — a tin
  24. coach — a trainer

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