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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 120 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: straw · cold · staff · bowl · object · root · season · bat

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. object — an aim
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — in sport
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. root — of a plant
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. root — the cause
  12. object — to protest
  13. root — of a word
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. season — of the year
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cold — an illness
  22. object — a thing
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — the animal

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