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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. sharp — clever
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. root — the cause
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. mark — a grade
  7. chest — a box
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. craft — boats
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. chest — of your body
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. prune — to trim
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. craft — a skill
  18. root — of a plant
  19. mark — a trace
  20. root — of a word
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — the animal

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