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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 water is too ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cold — an illness
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. root — of a plant
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. root — of a word
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. plane — a tool
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. band — a ring
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. root — the cause
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. band — a music group
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. plane — an aircraft

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