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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. clip — to cut
  4. track — a path
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. root — the cause
  9. swing — music
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. row — a line
  12. cell — a phone
  13. kick — in football
  14. track — a song
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cell — in biology
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — to play on
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. root — of a plant
  23. row — to paddle
  24. kick — a thrill

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