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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.

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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: game · squash · kid · dip · bark · kick · ground · root

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. root — of a word
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. game — a match
  8. kick — in football
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — to shout
  14. ground — a position
  15. dip — to sink
  16. game — wild animals
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ground — the earth
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. root — the cause
  22. squash — the sport
  23. root — of a plant
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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