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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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 · spring · stick · hand · tube · foot · toast · root

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. shower — to wash
  6. root — of a word
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. spring — a coil
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. spring — of water
  14. hand — in cards
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. foot — a measure
  17. tube — a container
  18. tube — the underground
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. hand — help
  21. shower — rain
  22. spring — the season
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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