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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stem — to come from
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. root — of a word
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. spring — a coil
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. root — the cause
  18. kid — child
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. root — of a plant
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. mouse — the animal

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