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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. lean — thin
  3. cell — a phone
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chest — of your body
  7. root — of a plant
  8. chest — of your body
  9. root — the cause
  10. cell — in biology
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. court — of law
  15. chest — a box
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wind — moving air
  18. lean — to bend
  19. court — of a king
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. court — for sport
  24. wind — moving air

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