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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. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. staff — a stick
  3. court — of law
  4. root — the cause
  5. capital — money
  6. file — a tool
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. court — for sport
  9. staff — employees
  10. stock — goods
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. file — a document
  14. court — of a king
  15. file — a line of people
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. hand — in cards
  18. staff — employees
  19. bark — to shout
  20. root — of a word
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. capital — a city
  24. hand — help

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