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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. root — of a word
  3. degree — from a university
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. root — the cause
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. key — the most important part
  12. root — of a plant
  13. degree — temperature
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. bark — to shout
  16. rash — a series
  17. clip — a video
  18. key — in music
  19. degree — an amount
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. key — for a lock
  23. rash — hasty
  24. date — on the calendar

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