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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. rule — a law
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — of water
  5. root — the cause
  6. content — happy
  7. file — a document
  8. bound — certain
  9. root — of a word
  10. pop — soda
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. bound — tied together
  13. content — the amount
  14. root — of a plant
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. file — a tool
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. rule — government
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pop — to visit
  22. spring — the season
  23. bound — obliged
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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