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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. last — to go on
  3. season — of the year
  4. bore — to drill
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. file — a line of people
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. last — final
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. root — of a word
  12. bore — to tire
  13. root — of a plant
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. file — a document
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. file — a tool
  20. last — finally
  21. root — the cause
  22. season — in sport
  23. game — a match
  24. bore — gave birth

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