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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: wake · pound · bark · saw · lie · root · bear · degree

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. root — of a word
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. pound — a weight
  9. root — the cause
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bark — to shout
  12. degree — from a university
  13. lie — to recline
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. saw — the tool
  16. root — of a plant
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bear — the animal
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wake — a trail
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. bear — the animal

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