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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: pitcher · drill · cold · snap · band · foot · root · straw

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. root — of a plant
  6. root — of a word
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. snap — to click
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — the tool
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. band — a music group
  17. cold — an illness
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. drill — army training
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. root — the cause
  22. band — a ring
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cold — not warm

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