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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 120 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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — in sport
  6. root — the cause
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cold — an illness
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. court — of a king
  12. court — of law
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. root — of a plant
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. root — of a word
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — what's left
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. court — for sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. cold — the Cold War

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