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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pop — soda
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. field — farmland
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. pop — to visit
  10. field — for sport
  11. root — the cause
  12. race — humankind
  13. saw — the tool
  14. race — the arms race
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. ground — the earth
  18. race — a contest
  19. pop — music
  20. bark — to shout
  21. saw — the tool
  22. root — of a plant
  23. field — a subject
  24. scale — for weighing

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