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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. root — of a plant
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. stand — to bear
  7. race — a contest
  8. ground — crushed
  9. cold — an illness
  10. root — the cause
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a music group
  14. race — the arms race
  15. root — of a word
  16. ground — a position
  17. ground — the earth
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. current — happening now
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. current — electric
  23. current — of water
  24. race — humankind

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