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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 need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. root — of a word
  3. shower — rain
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. row — to paddle
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. root — of a plant
  13. shower — to wash
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. row — a line
  16. last — final
  17. wax — to grow
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. fork — in a road
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fork — a garden tool

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