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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: wound · root · arm · straw · spring · row · cold · stick

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. row — a line
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. root — of a plant
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. root — the cause
  8. wound — an injury
  9. spring — of water
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. spring — the season
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. spring — a coil
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cold — an illness
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. root — of a word
  20. row — to paddle
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. wound — an injury

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