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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. root — of a word
  4. march — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. march — the month
  7. root — the cause
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. mate — a partner
  11. swing — music
  12. stock — shares
  13. mate — a friend
  14. march — the month
  15. stock — goods
  16. swing — in golf
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. chair — a leader
  19. game — a match
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. root — of a plant
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. game — wild animals

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