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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 116 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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. root — of a plant
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. root — of a word
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. degree — temperature
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. wake — a trail
  13. hand — help
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. hand — in cards
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. root — the cause

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