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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 116 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. cold — an illness
  4. plane — a tool
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. rest — what's left
  9. root — of a word
  10. cold — not warm
  11. root — the cause
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. rest — a break
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. root — of a plant
  23. shower — to wash
  24. rest — what's left

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