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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. kid — child
  4. court — of law
  5. kid — to tease
  6. root — of a plant
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. dip — to sink
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. shower — rain
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. root — the cause
  16. pound — a weight
  17. fork — in a road
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. root — of a word
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bark — to shout
  24. dip — to dunk

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