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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. cap — a hat
  3. shower — to wash
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. rash — hasty
  7. ground — the earth
  8. cap — a lid
  9. root — of a plant
  10. club — a group
  11. spring — the season
  12. shower — rain
  13. cap — of ice
  14. game — a match
  15. club — for golf
  16. spring — of water
  17. root — of a word
  18. root — the cause
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. spring — a coil
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. club — for dancing

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