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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. race — a contest
  3. spell — magic
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. root — the cause
  6. kid — child
  7. fork — in a road
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — the sport
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — letters
  14. root — of a word
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. squash — to crush
  17. race — humankind
  18. root — of a plant
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. race — the arms race
  21. bark — to shout
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. prune — to trim

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