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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. file — a tool
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. degree — temperature
  10. file — a document
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. pit — a hole
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. pit — in a race
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. file — a line of people
  19. sharp — clever
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. degree — an amount
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. bark — to shout

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