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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.

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: bat · root · bark · cold · bass · ground · wake · mug

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. root — of a plant
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bass — low music
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. bark — to shout
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. root — of a word
  11. ground — crushed
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cold — not warm
  15. mug — a cup
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. mug — a face
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. root — the cause
  21. mug — to rob
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bass — the fish
  24. wake — a trail

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