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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: last · bay · kid · shower · cap · mine · fork · root

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. shower — to wash
  4. last — final
  5. cap — a lid
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. root — the cause
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — of a word
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. shower — rain
  18. fork — in a road
  19. last — to go on
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a hat
  22. last — finally
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. kid — to tease

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