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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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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: wake · ball · degree · rash · foot · root · field · bark

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. root — the cause
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. bark — to shout
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. degree — temperature
  9. ball — a dance
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. foot — a measure
  12. field — farmland
  13. rash — a series
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. root — of a plant
  16. field — a subject
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. root — of a word
  19. ball — a great time
  20. degree — from a university
  21. rash — hasty
  22. field — for sport
  23. bark — of a tree
  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