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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: cold · lean · chest · spell · wake · root · drill · clip

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. drill — a practice
  4. chest — a box
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. root — of a word
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. lean — thin
  11. clip — to cut
  12. drill — army training
  13. clip — for paper
  14. root — the cause
  15. wake — a trail
  16. spell — letters
  17. clip — a video
  18. spell — magic
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. spell — a short time
  21. drill — the tool
  22. root — of a plant
  23. lean — to bend
  24. cold — not warm

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