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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. file — a line of people
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fall — the season
  6. root — of a word
  7. land — ground
  8. file — a tool
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. fall — to drop
  11. land — a country
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. root — of a plant
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. file — a document
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. land — to come down
  24. wax — to grow

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