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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. stem — to come from
  3. cold — not warm
  4. root — of a word
  5. ground — a position
  6. charge — a price
  7. ground — the earth
  8. root — of a plant
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cap — a lid
  11. cold — an illness
  12. charge — electricity
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. root — the cause
  16. press — newspapers
  17. cap — a hat
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. ground — crushed
  21. press — to push
  22. charge — in control
  23. press — a publisher
  24. cold — the Cold War

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