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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 116 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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468
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: chair · root · pitcher · spring · cold · cabinet · bat · club

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. club — for dancing
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. root — the cause
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. spring — of water
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — a group
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chair — a leader
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. root — of a word
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. root — of a plant

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