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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. bark — to shout
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — rain
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. root — of a word
  9. cap — of ice
  10. file — a tool
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. root — of a plant
  13. file — a document
  14. pop — music
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cap — a lid
  17. season — of the year
  18. cap — a hat
  19. pop — soda
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. season — in sport
  22. file — a line of people
  23. root — the cause
  24. nail — for a hammer

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