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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. root — of a plant
  3. chair — a leader
  4. club — for golf
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. bass — the fish
  8. track — a song
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — goods
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. spell — a short time
  15. club — a group
  16. stock — shares
  17. bass — low music
  18. club — for dancing
  19. root — of a word
  20. root — the cause
  21. spell — magic
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. spell — letters
  24. track — to keep track

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