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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 120 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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fine — all right
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. snap — to click
  10. tube — the underground
  11. rush — hurry
  12. game — a match
  13. root — of a plant
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. root — the cause
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bark — to shout
  21. tube — a container
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. fine — high quality

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