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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. ball — a dance
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. root — of a plant
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. ball — a great time
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. root — the cause
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fork — in a road
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. rule — a law
  23. root — of a word
  24. stem — to come from

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