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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 120 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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. root — of a word
  3. ground — a position
  4. bank — of a river
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bank — for money
  8. bass — the fish
  9. hand — help
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bank — for money
  13. hand — in cards
  14. ground — the earth
  15. court — of law
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — for sport
  19. root — of a plant
  20. content — happy
  21. root — the cause
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. content — the amount
  24. bass — low music

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