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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: current · root · march · cold · squash · key · shower · rest

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. march — the month
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cold — an illness
  5. march — music
  6. current — of water
  7. current — happening now
  8. shower — to wash
  9. rest — what's left
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — to crush
  12. current — electric
  13. root — of a plant
  14. key — in music
  15. rest — a break
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. key — for a lock
  20. rest — what's left
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — the cause
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. march — the month

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