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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · mouse · bark · racket · land · cold · pitcher · root

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. land — to come down
  3. cold — an illness
  4. land — a country
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. root — of a plant
  7. root — of a word
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. root — the cause
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. bark — to shout
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. pound — a weight
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. land — ground
  24. racket — for tennis

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