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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. cell — a phone
  3. root — the cause
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. root — of a word
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — a subject
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. field — for sport
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. root — of a plant
  18. press — a publisher
  19. rash — a series
  20. field — farmland
  21. cell — in biology
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. press — to push
  24. press — newspapers

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