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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 116 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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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: ruler · cold · season · saw · shower · root · march · calf

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. season — of the year
  5. cold — not warm
  6. saw — the tool
  7. march — the month
  8. saw — the tool
  9. root — the cause
  10. season — in sport
  11. root — of a plant
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. shower — to wash
  14. root — of a word
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. march — music
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. cold — an illness
  19. shower — rain
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. march — the month
  24. cold — the Cold War

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