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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. row — a line
  3. last — to go on
  4. land — a country
  5. cold — an illness
  6. row — to paddle
  7. root — of a plant
  8. last — final
  9. land — to come down
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. root — of a word
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. mark — a trace
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — to grow
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. root — the cause
  20. mark — a grade
  21. last — finally
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. land — ground
  24. row — a quarrel

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