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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. root — of a word
  5. band — a ring
  6. stem — to come from
  7. band — a music group
  8. root — the cause
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — a weight
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bat — the animal
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. root — of a plant
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. season — in sport
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stand — to bear
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. season — of the year
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. band — a rubber band

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