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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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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: club · mine · bark · field · pitcher · root · fine · sharp

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. root — of a plant
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — to shout
  6. field — for sport
  7. club — for dancing
  8. field — a subject
  9. fine — all right
  10. sharp — clever
  11. club — for golf
  12. field — farmland
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. root — of a word
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. fine — high quality
  18. club — a group
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. root — the cause
  24. pitcher — a jug

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