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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · cold · foot · hand · rock · straw · pitcher · shower

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. root — of a word
  3. cold — not warm
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. hand — help
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. rock — music
  10. root — of a plant
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. shower — rain
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rock — a stone
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. hand — in cards
  18. root — the cause
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. shower — to wash
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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