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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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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: shower · board · cap · lean · kid · hide · row · root

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. root — the cause
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — a line
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. row — to paddle
  8. lean — to bend
  9. root — of a plant
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cap — a hat
  13. board — to get on
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. shower — to wash
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. kid — child
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. cap — a lid
  20. shower — rain
  21. board — a committee
  22. lean — thin
  23. cap — of ice
  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