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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: wind · kick · roll · band · straw · kid · root · fork

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. roll — a cake
  4. band — a music group
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. kid — child
  10. band — a ring
  11. root — of a plant
  12. kick — in football
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — in a road
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. roll — a list
  18. root — of a word
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. wind — moving air
  24. root — the cause

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