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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: roll · shower · vault · cold · clip · fine · track · root

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. shower — to wash
  3. clip — for paper
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. root — the cause
  8. fine — high quality
  9. roll — a cake
  10. clip — to cut
  11. vault — a safe
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. track — a song
  14. clip — a video
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. fine — all right
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. roll — a list
  19. track — to keep track
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. track — a path
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — of a word

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