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

Word bank: shower · kid · cap · bay · root · last · hand · ground

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. kid — child
  7. last — to go on
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. hand — help
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cap — a hat
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a lid
  15. ground — the earth
  16. shower — rain
  17. root — of a word
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. ground — a position
  20. hand — in cards
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — the cause
  23. shower — to wash
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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