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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. root — of a plant
  3. rule — a law
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cold — an illness
  7. march — the month
  8. can — a tin
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. bound — certain
  13. rule — government
  14. bound — obliged
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — to be able to
  20. march — the month
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. bound — tied together
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a word

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