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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. staff — employees
  3. game — a match
  4. pound — a weight
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. root — of a plant
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. kid — child
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — wild animals
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. staff — employees
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. staff — a stick
  16. root — of a word
  17. pitch — completely
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. kid — to tease
  24. root — the cause

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