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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 120 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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. perch — the fish
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. rule — a law
  6. rule — government
  7. root — the cause
  8. tube — the underground
  9. spring — the season
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. wind — moving air
  12. key — for a lock
  13. root — of a plant
  14. chair — a leader
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — a container
  18. spring — of water
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. spring — a coil
  22. key — the most important part
  23. key — in music
  24. root — of a word

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