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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. root — the cause
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pitch — completely
  5. board — to get on
  6. clip — to cut
  7. root — of a plant
  8. cell — a phone
  9. board — a committee
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. root — of a word
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. clip — a video
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — for paper
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pitch — a sports field

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