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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. band — a ring
  3. root — of a word
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — an amount
  6. mine — for digging
  7. present — a gift
  8. root — the cause
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bark — to shout
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. band — a music group
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. wax — to grow
  20. present — the time now
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. root — of a plant

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