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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. chest — of your body
  5. season — of the year
  6. shower — rain
  7. root — of a word
  8. root — the cause
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. shower — to wash
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chip — to eat
  13. chest — of your body
  14. roll — a list
  15. root — of a plant
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. season — in sport
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. fall — to drop
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chest — a box
  22. fall — to drop
  23. roll — a cake
  24. fall — the season

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