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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: wind · court · stem · root · rest · cold · pop · foot

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cold — an illness
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rest — what's left
  7. stem — to come from
  8. court — of a king
  9. pop — music
  10. foot — a measure
  11. rest — what's left
  12. root — of a plant
  13. court — of law
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. court — for sport
  16. pop — to visit
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. rest — a break
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — the cause
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. pop — soda

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