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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. net — for catching
  5. bank — of a river
  6. bank — for money
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bank — for money
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cold — not warm
  13. net — after costs
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. net — in sport

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