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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 116 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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. key — the most important part
  3. ground — a position
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. root — of a word
  8. key — in music
  9. clip — to cut
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. key — for a lock
  12. root — of a plant
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. root — the cause
  18. bark — to shout
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. clip — a video
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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