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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. stand — to bear
  4. mine — for digging
  5. root — of a word
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pop — to visit
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — finally
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. pop — music
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — to shout
  15. last — final
  16. pop — soda
  17. key — in music
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. root — of a plant
  22. key — for a lock
  23. root — the cause
  24. key — the most important part

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