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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: season · file · root · roll · hide · mine · cabinet · pitcher

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  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. roll — a cake
  2. root — of a word
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. season — of the year
  7. roll — a list
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. file — a line of people
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. file — a tool
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. season — in sport
  16. mine — for digging
  17. file — a document
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. root — of a plant
  23. roll — on a roll
  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