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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  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. date — on the calendar
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. root — of a word
  11. root — of a plant
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. mine — for digging
  15. date — the fruit
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. stem — to come from
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. root — the cause
  21. bark — to shout
  22. wind — moving air
  23. nail — for a hammer
  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