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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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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: cue · tear · date · kid · fall · season · root · bark

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bark — to shout
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. root — the cause
  10. kid — child
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. tear — to rip
  13. kid — to tease
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cue — a signal
  16. season — of the year
  17. cue — for pool
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. root — of a plant
  20. cue — a hint
  21. season — in sport
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. fall — to drop
  24. root — of a word

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