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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · chair · chest · rule · root · cold

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. rule — a law
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. root — of a word
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. chest — a box
  13. root — the cause
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. root — of a plant
  18. chair — a leader

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