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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. ground — the earth
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. band — a music group
  6. ground — a position
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. chip — for betting
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bark — to shout
  14. cold — an illness
  15. root — of a plant
  16. chip — to eat
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. root — the cause
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. ground — crushed
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. cold — the Cold War

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