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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 120 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 · cue · wave · tear · root · fine · hand · cold

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. root — the cause
  3. hand — in cards
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cue — for pool
  8. shower — rain
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. shower — to wash
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cue — a signal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. tear — from crying
  17. root — of a word
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tear — to rip
  20. hand — help
  21. root — of a plant
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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