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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: lean · current · cold · content · cue · root · bat · fall

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cue — a signal
  4. current — of water
  5. current — happening now
  6. cue — for pool
  7. root — the cause
  8. content — happy
  9. fall — the season
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fall — to drop
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. root — of a plant
  18. current — electric
  19. lean — thin
  20. root — of a word
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cue — a hint
  23. cold — an illness
  24. content — the amount

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