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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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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 · shower · root · kick · cap · rash · prune · cold

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. rash — a series
  3. root — the cause
  4. cold — not warm
  5. kick — in football
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cold — an illness
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. root — of a plant
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. cap — a lid
  17. shower — rain
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — a line
  20. prune — to trim
  21. root — of a word
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. shower — to wash
  24. row — to paddle

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