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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
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: spring · spell · saw · cold · bore · land · root · cell

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  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. root — of a word
  2. saw — the tool
  3. land — ground
  4. spell — magic
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bore — to tire
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — a phone
  10. spring — the season
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cold — not warm
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. land — a country
  15. spell — letters
  16. land — to come down
  17. spring — of water
  18. bore — to drill
  19. saw — the tool
  20. root — of a plant
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bore — gave birth
  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