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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 · chair · bear · wind · roll · root · bark · rash

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. root — of a word
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — hasty
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bear — the animal
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. roll — a cake
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bark — to shout
  15. rash — a series
  16. wind — moving air
  17. roll — a list
  18. root — the cause
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. root — of a plant
  21. bear — the animal
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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