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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 ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. root — of a word
  10. date — the fruit
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pop — soda
  13. chest — of your body
  14. kid — child
  15. pitch — completely
  16. kid — to tease
  17. root — the cause
  18. pop — to visit
  19. chest — a box
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bark — to shout
  23. pop — music
  24. bark — of a tree

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