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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. root — of a word
  5. shower — to wash
  6. clip — to cut
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. rock — a stone
  10. root — of a plant
  11. shower — rain
  12. bark — to shout
  13. wound — an injury
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. wound — an injury
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. clip — for paper
  20. root — the cause
  21. clip — a video
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. rock — music

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