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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. rash — a series
  3. scale — size or range
  4. chip — to eat
  5. mine — for digging
  6. court — of a king
  7. cold — not warm
  8. root — of a plant
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. root — the cause
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. pit — in a race
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. chip — for betting
  15. cold — an illness
  16. court — for sport
  17. rash — hasty
  18. pit — a hole
  19. court — of law
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. scale — in music
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. scale — for weighing

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