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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. chest — of your body
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bark — to shout
  14. degree — an amount
  15. chest — a box
  16. bear — the animal
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. chest — of your body

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