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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. band — a music group
  3. club — for golf
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. bat — the animal
  6. root — the cause
  7. mine — for digging
  8. club — for dancing
  9. root — of a word
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. club — a group
  16. band — a ring
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cold — not warm
  20. root — of a plant
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. mine — an explosive

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