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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. root — of a word
  3. root — of a plant
  4. rock — a stone
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. stem — to come from
  7. wind — moving air
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. shower — to wash
  13. chest — of your body
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. plane — a tool
  17. chest — a box
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. root — the cause
  20. rock — music
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. plane — an aircraft

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