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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. lie — to recline
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. field — for sport
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. roll — a cake
  9. field — a subject
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. roll — a list
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bore — to tire
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wake — a trail
  19. mark — a grade
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. field — farmland
  22. mark — a trace
  23. bore — to drill
  24. lie — an untruth

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