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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. ground — a position
  3. bank — for money
  4. branch — a division
  5. fine — all right
  6. ground — crushed
  7. root — of a plant
  8. stem — to come from
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. bank — for money
  13. root — the cause
  14. spell — letters
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. root — of a word
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bank — of a river
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fine — high quality
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. ground — the earth

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