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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 captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. root — of a word
  3. wake — a trail
  4. land — ground
  5. spring — the season
  6. date — the fruit
  7. land — a country
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. spell — magic
  12. root — the cause
  13. cold — an illness
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. spell — a short time
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. land — to come down
  18. spring — of water
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spell — letters
  22. root — of a plant
  23. spring — a coil
  24. board — a committee

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