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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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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: nail · shower · stem · straw · root · pop · spell · hand

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. stem — to come from
  3. spell — letters
  4. hand — in cards
  5. spell — magic
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. spell — a short time
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. pop — soda
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — of a word
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. pop — to visit
  17. hand — help
  18. pop — music
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. root — the cause
  22. shower — to wash
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. shower — rain

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