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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. plane — a tool
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. stock — goods
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. root — the cause
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. root — of a plant
  21. kid — to tease
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. bat — the animal
  24. root — of a word

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