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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. root — the cause
  4. cell — a phone
  5. race — a contest
  6. bear — the animal
  7. root — of a plant
  8. race — humankind
  9. fall — to drop
  10. degree — temperature
  11. row — a line
  12. degree — an amount
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. fall — to drop
  15. rush — hurry
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bear — the animal
  18. row — to paddle
  19. degree — from a university
  20. race — the arms race
  21. root — of a word
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — in biology

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