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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: chest · perch · root · wind · bay · content · spring · shower

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. root — of a plant
  5. chest — a box
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. perch — the fish
  8. spring — a coil
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. root — of a word
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. chest — of your body
  15. shower — rain
  16. root — the cause
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chest — of your body
  19. shower — to wash
  20. content — the amount
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. content — happy
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. wind — moving air

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