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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — an illness
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. march — music
  6. root — of a plant
  7. fall — the season
  8. rash — a series
  9. march — the month
  10. scale — size or range
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. march — the month
  13. root — of a word
  14. root — the cause
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rash — hasty
  17. fall — to drop
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. rule — government
  21. scale — in music
  22. rule — a law
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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