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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bear · face · saw · sharp · cold · squash · court · root

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. face — to confront
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. court — of law
  5. root — of a word
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. saw — the tool
  8. court — for sport
  9. bear — the animal
  10. squash — the sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. face — to point toward
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — the cause
  16. sharp — clever
  17. face — part of the head
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bear — the animal
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cold — an illness

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