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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. root — the cause
  3. root — of a word
  4. field — farmland
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. field — for sport
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. bark — to shout
  16. wound — an injury
  17. root — of a plant
  18. calf — of the leg

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