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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: row · root · shower · perch · can · wind · cold · tube

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. root — of a word
  4. can — to be able to
  5. row — to paddle
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wind — moving air
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wind — moving air
  13. shower — rain
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. root — the cause
  16. cold — not warm
  17. row — a line
  18. root — of a plant
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. tube — a container
  21. perch — the fish
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. can — a tin
  24. tube — the underground

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