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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. root — of a plant
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. bulb — for light
  7. stem — to come from
  8. bulb — for light
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. content — happy
  11. content — the amount
  12. root — of a word
  13. cap — a lid
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cap — of ice
  17. root — the cause
  18. stem — a stem cell

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