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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 116 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 · field · court · perch · shower · wind · snap · kid

  1. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. kid — child
  5. perch — the fish
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wind — moving air
  9. court — for sport
  10. root — the cause
  11. court — of a king
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. shower — to wash
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. kid — to tease
  16. shower — rain
  17. court — of law
  18. wind — moving air
  19. root — of a word
  20. snap — to click
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. field — for sport
  24. wind — to turn a key

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