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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 ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. field — for sport
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. bark — to shout
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. root — of a word
  9. root — the cause
  10. perch — the fish
  11. file — a document
  12. hand — in cards
  13. scale — size or range
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. file — a tool
  18. scale — in music
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. file — a line of people
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. snap — to click
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. hand — help

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