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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. rock — music
  3. root — of a plant
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chest — a box
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rock — a stone
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. mug — to rob
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. root — the cause
  18. field — a subject
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — the fruit
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. root — of a word
  24. mug — a cup

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