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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. club — for dancing
  3. root — of a plant
  4. pitch — completely
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. club — for golf
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. club — a group
  16. field — farmland
  17. date — the fruit
  18. field — a subject
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. root — the cause
  21. wake — a trail
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. root — of a word
  24. field — for sport

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