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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 · ground · race · pitcher · sharp · bass · root · game

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bass — the fish
  6. race — a contest
  7. bark — to shout
  8. ground — the earth
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — low music
  12. root — of a plant
  13. ground — crushed
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. root — the cause
  17. root — of a word
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. sharp — clever
  21. race — humankind
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. game — a match
  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