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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cold — an illness
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — newspapers
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. press — to push
  9. root — the cause
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. chair — a leader
  15. file — a line of people
  16. root — of a plant
  17. field — farmland
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. field — a subject
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. field — for sport
  22. file — a tool
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. file — a document

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