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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: bark · season · ground · firm · root · mate · march · scale

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. season — of the year
  3. march — the month
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. firm — decided
  7. root — of a plant
  8. firm — steady
  9. root — of a word
  10. mate — a partner
  11. march — the month
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. season — in sport
  14. mate — a friend
  15. march — music
  16. ground — a position
  17. mate — to breed
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. scale — size or range
  20. root — the cause
  21. bark — to shout
  22. ground — the earth
  23. ground — crushed
  24. scale — in music

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