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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. ground — crushed
  3. pass — a permit
  4. degree — an amount
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. pop — soda
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. bark — to shout
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. ground — a position
  17. degree — temperature
  18. ground — the earth
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. rash — a series
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wake — a trail
  24. pop — music

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