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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. lie — to recline
  3. root — the cause
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. cold — not warm
  7. root — of a word
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rule — government
  10. tube — the underground
  11. shower — to wash
  12. rule — a law
  13. season — of the year
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. season — in sport
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. shower — rain
  23. tube — a container
  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