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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: wind · row · coach · root · lie · squash · cold · fall

  1. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. row — a line
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cold — not warm
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. root — of a word
  10. root — of a plant
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. fall — the season
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. fall — to drop
  15. squash — to crush
  16. lie — to recline
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. cold — an illness
  20. squash — the sport
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. row — to paddle

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