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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 water is too ________________.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. root — the cause
  3. cell — a phone
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. cold — an illness
  6. drill — a practice
  7. last — to go on
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. drill — the tool
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. root — of a plant
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. drill — army training
  17. last — finally
  18. last — final
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. cell — in biology
  22. date — the fruit
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  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