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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. root — the cause
  3. root — of a word
  4. race — humankind
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kid — to tease
  9. chest — a box
  10. bear — the animal
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. race — the arms race
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. chest — of your body
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. race — a contest
  21. root — of a plant
  22. cold — not warm
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bear — the animal

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