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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: kid · spring · wave · present · ruler · mine · root · straw

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. root — of a plant
  4. kid — child
  5. root — of a word
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. root — the cause
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. present — there
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. present — a gift
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. present — the time now
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. kid — to tease
  24. spring — the season

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