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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: fall · spring · chair · cold · march · root · ball · dip

  1. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. ball — a great time
  3. ball — a dance
  4. march — the month
  5. chair — a leader
  6. spring — the season
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. dip — to sink
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fall — the season
  11. march — music
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. spring — a coil
  15. spring — of water
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. root — of a word
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fall — to drop
  22. root — of a plant
  23. fall — to drop
  24. ball — a round shape

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