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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. root — the cause
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. root — of a word
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. rash — hasty
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. pit — a hole
  9. root — of a plant
  10. pit — in a race
  11. bat — the animal
  12. sharp — clever
  13. bass — low music
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cold — an illness
  20. rash — a series
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. cell — in a prison

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