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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — obliged
  5. root — of a word
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. face — part of the head
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. bound — tied together
  10. hand — help
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. face — to point toward
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. net — in sport
  15. face — to confront
  16. root — the cause
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. hand — in cards
  19. net — for catching
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. root — of a plant

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