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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cap · cold · fan · trunk · root · fall

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. root — of a plant
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. cold — not warm
  9. root — of a word
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. cap — of ice
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cap — a lid
  15. root — the cause
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. cap — a hat
  18. fan — a supporter

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