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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ground — a position
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. ground — crushed
  5. root — of a word
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — a series
  8. pop — soda
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. pop — music
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. root — the cause
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. drill — army training
  16. mark — a grade
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. mark — a trace
  21. ground — the earth
  22. root — of a plant
  23. pop — to visit
  24. deal — to handle

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