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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 120 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. cold — not warm
  5. root — of a word
  6. bound — tied together
  7. object — an aim
  8. field — a subject
  9. bound — certain
  10. object — a thing
  11. fine — high quality
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bound — obliged
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. fine — all right
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. object — to protest
  19. root — of a plant
  20. field — farmland
  21. prune — to trim
  22. field — for sport
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. root — the cause

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