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

Word bank: cold · root · pound · pitcher · lash · bulb · bark · court

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  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. bark — to shout
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. root — the cause
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. court — of a king
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bulb — for light
  13. court — for sport
  14. root — of a word
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. court — of law
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. cold — an illness
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. root — of a plant
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bulb — for light
  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