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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: cold · shower · land · sharp · root · lean · race · cell

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. race — the arms race
  3. lean — to bend
  4. shower — to wash
  5. root — the cause
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. land — ground
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — humankind
  10. cell — a phone
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. root — of a word
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. cold — an illness
  17. sharp — clever
  18. cell — in biology
  19. land — to come down
  20. root — of a plant
  21. land — a country
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. cold — not warm
  24. lean — thin

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