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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. current — happening now
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. band — a music group
  5. kick — in football
  6. root — of a plant
  7. tube — the underground
  8. key — for a lock
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. current — of water
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. root — the cause
  19. tube — a container
  20. current — electric
  21. key — in music
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. key — the most important part
  24. band — a ring

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