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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: cold · swing · bark · staff · root · shower · mine · rest

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. shower — to wash
  3. root — of a word
  4. swing — to play on
  5. staff — employees
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. swing — music
  9. shower — rain
  10. bark — to shout
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rest — what's left
  14. root — the cause
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. root — of a plant
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. staff — a stick
  21. mine — for digging
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. staff — employees

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