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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. land — a country
  4. shower — to wash
  5. root — of a plant
  6. land — to come down
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. land — ground
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. cold — an illness
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. root — the cause
  16. snap — to click
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. stem — to come from
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. shower — rain
  23. root — of a word
  24. cabinet — ministers

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