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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: date · craft · content · bark · wake · object · root · swing

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  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. craft — boats
  2. content — happy
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. content — the amount
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. root — of a word
  8. wake — a trail
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. craft — a skill
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. object — a thing
  14. swing — to play on
  15. date — the fruit
  16. swing — music
  17. object — to protest
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. object — an aim
  20. bark — to shout
  21. swing — in golf
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. root — the cause
  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