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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. root — of a plant
  3. file — a line of people
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pop — music
  8. file — a tool
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. file — a document
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. root — the cause
  15. bore — to tire
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — soda
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wake — a trail
  22. bore — to drill
  23. root — of a word
  24. shower — rain

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