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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: pitch · court · bark · wound · spring · root · face · wind

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. root — the cause
  3. root — of a word
  4. court — of a king
  5. pitch — completely
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. wound — an injury
  8. face — part of the head
  9. wind — moving air
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of law
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bark — to shout
  14. face — to confront
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. face — to point toward
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. root — of a plant
  23. spring — the season
  24. wind — moving air

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