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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 116 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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. wind — moving air
  3. root — of a word
  4. mate — a friend
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. track — a song
  7. root — of a plant
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — to breed
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. root — the cause
  16. wind — moving air
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. spring — of water
  19. track — to keep track
  20. rule — a law
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. rule — government
  23. spring — the season
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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