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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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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 · tear · spell · lean · ground · roll · net · root

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. lean — thin
  3. root — of a word
  4. tear — to rip
  5. lean — to bend
  6. net — for catching
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. root — of a plant
  9. root — the cause
  10. ground — the earth
  11. tear — from crying
  12. ground — crushed
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. net — in sport
  15. spell — a short time
  16. tear — from crying
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. net — after costs
  19. shower — rain
  20. spell — letters
  21. roll — a list
  22. roll — a cake
  23. shower — to wash
  24. ground — a position

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