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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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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 · root · row · face · sharp · race · chair · craft

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to confront
  5. race — the arms race
  6. root — of a word
  7. race — humankind
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. craft — boats
  11. craft — a skill
  12. bark — to shout
  13. chair — a leader
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. row — to paddle
  17. race — a contest
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. root — the cause
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. row — a line
  23. face — to point toward
  24. root — of a plant

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