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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. root — the cause
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. root — of a word
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. tube — the underground
  14. bass — the fish
  15. cold — not warm
  16. game — a match
  17. tube — a container
  18. stand — to bear
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bass — low music
  21. cold — an illness
  22. root — of a plant
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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