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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cabinet · pop · field · hand · root · arm · cold · fall

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. fall — to drop
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. root — of a word
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. pop — music
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — a subject
  11. hand — help
  12. pop — soda
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. field — for sport
  15. root — of a plant
  16. root — the cause
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. pop — to visit
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. field — farmland
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cold — an illness

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