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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 120 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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. root — of a word
  3. perch — the fish
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. land — a country
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. root — of a plant
  10. stock — shares
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. cold — an illness
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. land — ground
  16. stock — goods
  17. root — the cause
  18. deal — to handle
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. land — to come down
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. leaves — of a tree

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