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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. sharp — clever
  3. court — for sport
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stock — goods
  7. cold — an illness
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. court — of a king
  11. saw — the tool
  12. root — of a plant
  13. lean — thin
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. plane — a tool
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. lean — to bend
  19. court — of law
  20. stock — shares
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a word

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