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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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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. fork — in a road
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. tube — a container
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. kid — child
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. swing — to play on
  17. tube — the underground
  18. root — of a plant
  19. root — the cause
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. kid — to tease
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bark — to shout

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