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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. root — the cause
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. root — of a plant
  5. kick — in football
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ball — a great time
  12. track — a song
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bark — to shout
  20. mine — for digging
  21. root — of a word
  22. track — a path
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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