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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. chest — of your body
  5. root — of a word
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bark — to shout
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. root — of a plant
  13. kid — child
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. chest — a box
  16. kid — to tease
  17. date — the fruit
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stem — to come from
  24. wound — an injury

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