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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. saw — the tool
  5. root — of a plant
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. root — of a word
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. root — the cause
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. band — a music group
  15. pass — a permit
  16. capital — money
  17. band — a ring
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. saw — the tool
  20. kid — to tease
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. capital — a city
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — not warm

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