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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 120 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: root · tear · net · spring · kid · hide · fall · last

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. root — of a word
  4. net — for catching
  5. tear — to rip
  6. kid — child
  7. net — after costs
  8. kid — to tease
  9. last — to go on
  10. tear — from crying
  11. net — in sport
  12. spring — of water
  13. tear — from crying
  14. last — finally
  15. last — final
  16. spring — the season
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. root — the cause
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. root — of a plant
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. spring — a coil
  24. hide — to keep secret

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