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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pop — music
  3. ground — a position
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. ground — crushed
  7. race — humankind
  8. wound — an injury
  9. root — of a word
  10. root — the cause
  11. wound — an injury
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ground — the earth
  14. pop — to visit
  15. kid — child
  16. race — the arms race
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. fork — in a road
  20. race — a contest
  21. pop — soda
  22. bark — to shout
  23. root — of a plant
  24. fork — to eat with

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