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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. cold — an illness
  3. root — of a word
  4. rock — a stone
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cold — not warm
  9. root — the cause
  10. rock — music
  11. rule — a law
  12. bound — tied together
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. bound — obliged
  16. root — of a plant
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rule — government
  19. degree — from a university
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. stem — to come from
  23. bound — certain
  24. stem — of a plant

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