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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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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: wind · mate · last · rush · cell · root · season · kid

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. last — final
  3. season — in sport
  4. root — the cause
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. cell — a phone
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. last — to go on
  9. mate — to breed
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. wind — moving air
  12. mate — a partner
  13. last — finally
  14. cell — in biology
  15. root — of a plant
  16. kid — child
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. root — of a word
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. rush — hurry
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mate — a friend
  23. kid — to tease
  24. season — of the year

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