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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: straw · wind · root · mouse · leaves · lie · mine · cold

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. cold — an illness
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. lie — to recline
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. root — of a word
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. root — of a plant
  11. wind — moving air
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. root — the cause
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. mouse — for a computer
  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