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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. race — humankind
  3. drill — army training
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. drill — the tool
  6. shower — rain
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. drill — a practice
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — child
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. root — of a plant
  14. bat — the animal
  15. race — the arms race
  16. shower — to wash
  17. root — the cause
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. race — a contest
  23. fork — in a road
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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