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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: root · club · content · cell · game · track · spring · shower

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. club — a group
  3. root — of a plant
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spring — a coil
  6. club — for golf
  7. root — the cause
  8. content — the amount
  9. track — to keep track
  10. game — a match
  11. game — wild animals
  12. track — a song
  13. spring — the season
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. track — a path
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. club — for dancing
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. cell — in biology
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. root — of a word
  23. spring — of water
  24. content — videos and posts

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