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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. cold — an illness
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. game — a match
  6. root — of a word
  7. stock — shares
  8. mark — a trace
  9. mark — a grade
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. spell — letters
  12. stock — goods
  13. spring — the season
  14. root — the cause
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. spell — magic
  18. game — wild animals
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. spell — a short time
  21. root — of a plant
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — of water
  24. cold — not warm

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