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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: root · straw · spell · chest · fan · kid · bound · rush

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. root — of a plant
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — magic
  8. spell — a short time
  9. chest — a box
  10. rush — hurry
  11. chest — of your body
  12. root — of a word
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. kid — child
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — certain
  22. bound — tied together
  23. root — the cause
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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