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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. root — of a word
  3. rash — a series
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. shower — rain
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — hasty
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cold — not warm
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. content — happy
  17. content — the amount
  18. root — the cause
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. root — of a plant
  22. branch — a division
  23. toast — bread
  24. content — videos and posts

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