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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: fine · fan · clip · mate · cell · last · cold · root

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. cell — in biology
  5. last — to go on
  6. fine — high quality
  7. clip — for paper
  8. fine — all right
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. mate — to breed
  13. root — of a plant
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cell — a phone
  16. mate — a friend
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. clip — a video
  20. root — the cause
  21. cold — not warm
  22. clip — to cut
  23. mate — a partner
  24. fan — to cool the air

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