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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. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. spell — letters
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. root — the cause
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wake — a trail
  10. root — of a word
  11. ground — crushed
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. wind — moving air
  17. ground — a position
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. ground — the earth
  20. cold — not warm
  21. root — of a plant
  22. cold — an illness
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

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