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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 116 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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. spring — of water
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. file — a document
  6. spring — a coil
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bear — the animal
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. root — of a word
  12. cold — not warm
  13. band — a music group
  14. root — of a plant
  15. file — a tool
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wake — a trail
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. spring — the season
  23. bear — the animal
  24. band — a ring

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