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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mate — to breed
  3. root — of a word
  4. track — a path
  5. band — a ring
  6. shower — rain
  7. root — the cause
  8. root — of a plant
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. track — a song
  13. mate — a friend
  14. march — the month
  15. mate — a partner
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. shower — to wash
  18. band — a music group
  19. track — to keep track
  20. march — music
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bark — to shout
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wind — moving air

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