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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. net — after costs
  3. cue — a signal
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cap — a hat
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cue — a hint
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. root — of a word
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. net — for catching
  16. roll — a list
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. net — in sport
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cap — of ice
  22. saw — the tool
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a plant

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