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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. root — of a word
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cell — a phone
  14. bat — the animal
  15. spell — letters
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. root — the cause
  19. spell — a short time
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cap — a hat
  23. root — of a plant
  24. spell — magic

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