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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 120 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: wave · pound · degree · shower · bark · race · field · root

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bark — to shout
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. root — of a plant
  10. field — a subject
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. root — the cause
  13. race — a contest
  14. degree — from a university
  15. root — of a word
  16. degree — an amount
  17. shower — rain
  18. race — humankind
  19. shower — to wash
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pound — a weight
  22. field — farmland
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. field — for sport

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