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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. field — farmland
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. root — the cause
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cue — for pool
  7. cue — a hint
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. root — of a plant
  11. press — to push
  12. press — newspapers
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cold — an illness
  15. field — a subject
  16. chair — a leader
  17. press — a publisher
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. cue — a signal
  20. ball — a dance
  21. root — of a word
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. wound — an injury
  24. field — for sport

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