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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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Word bank
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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. band — a ring
  6. root — of a plant
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. tear — from crying
  9. band — a music group
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. degree — temperature
  13. root — of a word
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. degree — an amount
  18. deal — to handle
  19. root — the cause
  20. degree — from a university
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. tear — to rip
  24. straw — a straw man

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