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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. fork — in a road
  5. kid — child
  6. band — a music group
  7. net — for catching
  8. bark — to shout
  9. net — after costs
  10. band — a ring
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. root — the cause
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. net — in sport
  16. plane — a tool
  17. root — of a plant
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. wake — a trail
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. root — of a word
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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