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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. root — the cause
  3. scale — in music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. root — of a plant
  6. chest — a box
  7. file — a tool
  8. scale — size or range
  9. file — a document
  10. root — of a word
  11. court — for sport
  12. race — the arms race
  13. court — of a king
  14. bank — for money
  15. race — humankind
  16. bank — for money
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. degree — from a university
  19. chest — of your body
  20. file — a line of people
  21. degree — an amount
  22. race — a contest
  23. court — of law
  24. degree — temperature

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