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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: root · land · shower · wind · last · chair · key · band

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. last — to go on
  3. wind — moving air
  4. root — of a plant
  5. root — of a word
  6. last — finally
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. land — ground
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. last — final
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. shower — rain
  16. key — the most important part
  17. shower — to wash
  18. band — a music group
  19. key — in music
  20. band — a ring
  21. wind — moving air
  22. root — the cause
  23. key — for a lock
  24. chair — to sit on

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