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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: wave · kid · shower · chip · cap · root · chest · rest

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. rest — what's left
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rest — a break
  6. cap — a hat
  7. root — of a word
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. shower — to wash
  10. chip — to eat
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. kid — child
  14. root — of a plant
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. chest — a box
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. cap — a lid
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. root — the cause
  21. kid — to tease
  22. shower — rain
  23. chip — for betting
  24. rest — what's left

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