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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: chest · land · rule · staff · root · season · mate · cold

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. rule — a law
  3. rule — government
  4. season — of the year
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mate — to breed
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chest — of your body
  12. land — a country
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — an illness
  16. season — in sport
  17. root — the cause
  18. staff — employees
  19. mate — a friend
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. staff — a stick
  22. root — of a plant
  23. staff — employees
  24. land — ground

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