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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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468
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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. ground — crushed
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. row — to paddle
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. root — of a plant
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. root — of a word
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. ground — the earth
  17. row — a line
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. saw — the tool
  21. root — the cause
  22. saw — the tool
  23. ground — a position
  24. rest — what's left

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