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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. kid — to tease
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. squash — to crush
  5. stock — goods
  6. degree — from a university
  7. root — of a plant
  8. file — a document
  9. kid — child
  10. root — of a word
  11. stock — shares
  12. file — a line of people
  13. season — in sport
  14. file — a tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. squash — the sport
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. season — of the year
  24. squash — the vegetable

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