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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. root — of a plant
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. mine — for digging
  15. rule — government
  16. root — the cause
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rule — a law
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. root — of a word
  21. cold — an illness
  22. date — the fruit
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. trunk — of a car

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