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

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. wake — a trail
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bark — to shout
  8. root — of a word
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. sharp — clever
  12. stand — to bear
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. degree — from a university
  15. deal — to handle
  16. degree — temperature
  17. root — the cause
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. root — of a plant
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — a line

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