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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: wound · kid · shower · last · bore · ground · face · root

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. shower — to wash
  3. ground — the earth
  4. kid — child
  5. ground — a position
  6. face — to confront
  7. root — of a plant
  8. wound — an injury
  9. last — finally
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. root — of a word
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bore — to drill
  15. bore — to tire
  16. kid — to tease
  17. root — the cause
  18. face — to point toward
  19. last — to go on
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. last — final
  22. face — part of the head
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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