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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: cold · stem · court · root · cap · row · sharp · track

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. cold — an illness
  3. row — to paddle
  4. root — of a word
  5. track — a path
  6. cap — of ice
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. cap — a hat
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. row — a line
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of law
  14. stem — to come from
  15. track — a song
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. cap — a lid
  18. court — of a king
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. root — of a plant
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. track — to keep track
  24. root — the cause

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