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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — soda
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spell — letters
  6. root — of a word
  7. stand — to bear
  8. root — of a plant
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. pop — to visit
  11. spell — magic
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. scale — in music
  14. mine — for digging
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bark — to shout
  17. spell — a short time
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. root — the cause
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. calf — a young animal

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