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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: root · race · ball · shower · lie · club · cold · calf

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. ball — a great time
  3. root — the cause
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. root — of a word
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lie — to recline
  8. ball — a dance
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. race — humankind
  13. shower — to wash
  14. club — a group
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. root — of a plant
  18. race — a contest
  19. race — the arms race
  20. club — for dancing
  21. cold — an illness
  22. shower — rain
  23. cold — not warm
  24. calf — a young animal

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