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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spring — of water
  3. kid — child
  4. ground — the earth
  5. stand — to bear
  6. kid — to tease
  7. root — of a plant
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. root — the cause
  10. race — the arms race
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ground — a position
  14. root — of a word
  15. track — a path
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. spring — the season
  18. track — to keep track
  19. track — a song
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. race — a contest
  22. wax — to grow
  23. race — humankind
  24. spring — a coil

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