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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. staff — employees
  3. land — to come down
  4. fall — the season
  5. staff — employees
  6. root — of a word
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cold — not warm
  10. root — the cause
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bound — certain
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stock — shares
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bound — tied together
  17. land — ground
  18. root — of a plant
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. bound — obliged
  21. stock — goods
  22. fall — to drop
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. land — a country

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