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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: patient · root · stem · shower · bowl · fall · mark · bat

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. shower — rain
  5. fall — the season
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. shower — to wash
  9. root — of a word
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. fall — to drop
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. stem — to come from
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — a trace
  18. fall — to drop
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — the cause
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bowl — a dish

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