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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. root — of a word
  3. season — in sport
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. net — in sport
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. prune — to trim
  11. root — of a plant
  12. current — happening now
  13. current — electric
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. current — of water
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. net — after costs
  18. root — the cause
  19. prune — to trim
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. season — of the year
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. net — for catching

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