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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. mate — a friend
  3. root — the cause
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. cold — not warm
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. chair — a leader
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. root — of a word
  11. squash — to crush
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. mate — to breed
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — shares
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. cold — an illness
  19. root — of a plant
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mate — a partner
  24. prune — to trim

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