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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: root · cold · mouse · tear · drill · shower · stick · land

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. land — to come down
  4. drill — the tool
  5. root — of a word
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. shower — to wash
  11. root — the cause
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. land — a country
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — army training
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. shower — rain
  23. land — ground
  24. root — of a plant

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