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

Word bank: tear · cold · lean · jam · racket · straw · cell · root

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. root — of a word
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cold — an illness
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. tear — from crying
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lean — to bend
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. root — the cause
  13. cell — in biology
  14. lean — thin
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. tear — to rip
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. cold — not warm
  20. root — of a plant
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cell — in a prison

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