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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. root — of a word
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. root — of a plant
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. squash — to crush
  9. row — a line
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. root — the cause
  12. content — happy
  13. cold — not warm
  14. row — to paddle
  15. rash — a series
  16. cold — an illness
  17. content — the amount
  18. season — of the year
  19. squash — the sport
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. rash — hasty
  24. trunk — of a car

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