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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 120 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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. spring — the season
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. spring — a coil
  5. rest — what's left
  6. net — after costs
  7. prune — to trim
  8. key — for a lock
  9. rest — a break
  10. root — of a plant
  11. root — of a word
  12. cold — an illness
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. rest — what's left
  15. key — in music
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. cold — not warm
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. key — the most important part
  21. prune — to trim
  22. spring — of water
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. root — the cause

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