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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. chair — a leader
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cold — an illness
  8. prune — to trim
  9. race — the arms race
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. tear — to rip
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. tear — from crying
  16. root — of a word
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rock — music
  19. race — a contest
  20. rock — a stone
  21. tear — from crying
  22. race — humankind
  23. prune — to trim
  24. root — of a plant

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