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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. march — music
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. root — of a plant
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — not warm
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. mine — for digging
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bass — low music
  14. bass — the fish
  15. march — the month
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. root — the cause
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. stem — to come from
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. root — of a word

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