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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spell — letters
  3. craft — boats
  4. spell — a short time
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — a position
  7. bark — to shout
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. spell — magic
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. craft — a skill
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. sharp — clever
  15. rock — a stone
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. rock — music
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. wound — an injury
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — the cause
  23. wound — an injury
  24. sharp — exactly

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