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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. cold — an illness
  3. degree — from a university
  4. root — the cause
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. land — to come down
  8. cue — a signal
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. land — a country
  12. bark — to shout
  13. degree — an amount
  14. root — of a plant
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. land — ground
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cue — for pool
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. root — of a word

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