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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spell — a short time
  3. root — of a word
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rash — hasty
  6. ground — a position
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bark — to shout
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spell — letters
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. root — the cause
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. spell — magic
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. rash — a series
  22. cold — an illness
  23. root — of a plant
  24. bark — of a tree

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