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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 120 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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. net — in sport
  4. staff — employees
  5. game — a match
  6. root — of a plant
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. bark — to shout
  12. staff — a stick
  13. net — for catching
  14. field — a subject
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. staff — employees
  17. root — the cause
  18. field — for sport
  19. net — after costs
  20. field — farmland
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. march — the month
  23. root — of a word
  24. racket — for tennis

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