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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rock — music
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. rock — a stone
  5. root — the cause
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. deal — to handle
  8. capital — money
  9. rush — hurry
  10. capital — a city
  11. scale — size or range
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. root — of a plant
  17. root — of a word
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. scale — in music
  20. pass — a permit
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. pass — to succeed

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