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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. wound — an injury
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. current — of water
  5. root — of a word
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. root — of a plant
  8. root — the cause
  9. present — there
  10. content — happy
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. wound — an injury
  13. current — happening now
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. present — the time now
  18. bat — the animal
  19. current — electric
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bark — to shout
  23. content — the amount
  24. bark — of a tree

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