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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 120 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. ground — a position
  5. root — the cause
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. ground — the earth
  11. root — of a plant
  12. court — of law
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kid — child
  15. ground — crushed
  16. root — of a word
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. kid — to tease
  22. snap — to click
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cold — not warm

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