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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wind — moving air
  3. root — of a word
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. last — final
  6. root — of a plant
  7. cold — an illness
  8. net — after costs
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. net — for catching
  11. root — the cause
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rash — a series
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. pound — a weight
  17. press — to push
  18. last — finally
  19. press — newspapers
  20. last — to go on
  21. net — in sport
  22. press — a publisher
  23. rash — hasty
  24. wind — moving air

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