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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · root · craft · field · cold · nail · bat · bark

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. field — farmland
  7. root — of a plant
  8. field — a subject
  9. root — the cause
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. game — a match
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. field — for sport
  15. bat — the animal
  16. craft — a skill
  17. cold — an illness
  18. game — wild animals
  19. cold — not warm
  20. root — of a word
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bark — to shout
  24. craft — boats

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