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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. ground — a position
  6. bark — to shout
  7. content — happy
  8. root — of a plant
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — the tool
  11. clip — to cut
  12. root — of a word
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. tear — to rip
  15. fork — in a road
  16. root — the cause
  17. clip — a video
  18. tear — from crying
  19. ground — crushed
  20. drill — a practice
  21. clip — for paper
  22. ground — the earth
  23. content — the amount
  24. tear — from crying

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