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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. swing — in golf
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. root — of a word
  8. root — the cause
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ball — a dance
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. root — of a plant
  13. clip — a video
  14. ball — a great time
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. craft — boats
  18. swing — to play on
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. clip — to cut
  22. swing — music
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. craft — a skill

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