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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: race · spell · root · cold · shower · wind · mouse · hand

  1. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. spell — magic
  7. shower — rain
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. race — a contest
  11. root — of a plant
  12. wind — moving air
  13. race — the arms race
  14. root — of a word
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. race — humankind
  19. hand — in cards
  20. cold — an illness
  21. shower — to wash
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. hand — help

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