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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stem — to come from
  3. root — of a word
  4. mate — a partner
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. mate — a friend
  7. pound — a weight
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. mate — to breed
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. root — the cause
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. can — a tin
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. root — of a plant
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. can — to be able to
  22. can — a tin
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. pound — for dogs

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