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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. file — a line of people
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — of a word
  15. track — a path
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. track — to keep track
  19. file — a tool
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. track — a song
  23. file — a document
  24. root — the cause

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