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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. root — of a word
  4. rock — music
  5. root — the cause
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. field — farmland
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cell — a phone
  11. root — of a plant
  12. snap — to click
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. field — a subject
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cell — in biology
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. deal — to handle
  20. cold — not warm
  21. field — for sport
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. rock — a stone

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