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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. swing — music
  4. root — of a plant
  5. rule — government
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. swing — in golf
  8. spring — of water
  9. root — of a word
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rule — a law
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. cold — an illness
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. root — the cause
  18. chair — a leader
  19. swing — to play on
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. spring — the season
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. kid — child

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