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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. root — of a word
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — completely
  8. shower — to wash
  9. sharp — clever
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. face — to confront
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. root — the cause
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. face — part of the head
  18. root — of a plant
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. stem — to come from
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. face — to point toward
  23. shower — rain
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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