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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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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: cold · stick · pitcher · root · shower · ground · cue · hide

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. root — the cause
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cue — for pool
  6. ground — the earth
  7. root — of a word
  8. root — of a plant
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. cue — a hint
  11. shower — to wash
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. ground — crushed
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cue — a signal
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. cold — an illness
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. ground — a position

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