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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. rock — music
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. clip — to cut
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bark — to shout
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. sharp — clever
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. ground — the earth
  16. root — of a plant
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. date — the fruit
  20. root — the cause
  21. rock — a stone
  22. clip — a video
  23. root — of a word
  24. bark — of a tree

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