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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. root — of a word
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. mate — a partner
  6. row — a line
  7. rush — hurry
  8. staff — employees
  9. chair — a leader
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. mate — a friend
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mate — to breed
  14. root — of a plant
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. staff — a stick
  17. cold — not warm
  18. staff — employees
  19. row — to paddle
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. root — the cause
  22. mark — a trace
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. mark — a grade

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