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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cold — not warm
  3. tear — from crying
  4. last — final
  5. root — the cause
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. root — of a word
  9. last — to go on
  10. roll — a cake
  11. root — of a plant
  12. season — of the year
  13. cold — an illness
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — a container
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. season — in sport
  20. roll — a list
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tube — the underground
  23. last — finally
  24. tear — to rip

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