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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. bass — low music
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. root — of a word
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. spring — of water
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. root — the cause
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bass — the fish
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bark — to shout
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wound — an injury
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. root — of a plant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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