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

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. mug — a cup
  4. content — the amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. drill — army training
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. content — happy
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bark — to shout
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mug — to rob
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mug — a face

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