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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. root — of a plant
  5. content — happy
  6. face — to point toward
  7. root — of a word
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. root — the cause
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. wake — a trail
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. face — to confront
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. row — to paddle
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. content — the amount
  24. nail — for a hammer

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