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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: rock · drill · last · cold · root · leaves · court · spring

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. court — of law
  3. cold — an illness
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. drill — a practice
  6. spring — the season
  7. root — of a plant
  8. cold — not warm
  9. drill — the tool
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. rock — a stone
  12. last — to go on
  13. court — of a king
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. court — for sport
  16. spring — of water
  17. drill — army training
  18. rock — music
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. root — the cause
  22. last — final
  23. spring — a coil
  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