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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 · chair · tear · kid · fan · spring · rash · rest

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. tear — from crying
  3. kid — child
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. root — of a word
  6. tear — to rip
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. root — of a plant
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chair — a leader
  12. rest — a break
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rest — what's left
  16. spring — of water
  17. rash — a series
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. kid — to tease
  20. root — the cause
  21. spring — a coil
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. tear — from crying
  24. spring — the season

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