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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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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: stick · spring · cold · club · root · bore · cell · clip

  1. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. cell — in biology
  3. spring — a coil
  4. root — the cause
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bore — to tire
  8. club — a group
  9. club — for golf
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. root — of a plant
  12. cold — not warm
  13. club — for dancing
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bore — to drill
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. spring — of water
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. cold — an illness
  22. spring — the season
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. root — of a word

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