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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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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: coach · scale · fall · bark · hand · shower · last · root

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. shower — to wash
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. scale — size or range
  7. root — the cause
  8. last — final
  9. root — of a word
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. fall — the season
  12. hand — in cards
  13. scale — in music
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bark — to shout
  16. fall — to drop
  17. last — finally
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. hand — help
  20. last — to go on
  21. root — of a plant
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. shower — rain

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