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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: drill · staff · bat · bark · root · tear · file · roll

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. root — the cause
  5. roll — a cake
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. staff — employees
  9. root — of a plant
  10. drill — army training
  11. bark — to shout
  12. file — a document
  13. bat — the animal
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. roll — a list
  16. staff — a stick
  17. file — a tool
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. file — a line of people
  20. root — of a word
  21. drill — a practice
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — for baseball

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