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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: leaves · march · season · root · ball · land · cold · bark

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. cold — an illness
  5. march — the month
  6. ball — a dance
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. season — in sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. ball — a great time
  14. root — of a word
  15. bark — to shout
  16. root — of a plant
  17. cold — not warm
  18. root — the cause
  19. march — music
  20. land — a country
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — of the year
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. march — the month

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