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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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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: cold · spell · root · ground · band · wind · staff · cue

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. root — the cause
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cue — for pool
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spell — letters
  8. cold — not warm
  9. staff — employees
  10. cue — a signal
  11. spell — magic
  12. band — a ring
  13. root — of a word
  14. ground — the earth
  15. staff — employees
  16. wind — moving air
  17. root — of a plant
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cue — a hint
  21. spell — a short time
  22. band — a music group
  23. staff — a stick
  24. cold — the Cold War

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