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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. degree — temperature
  5. file — a document
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. object — an aim
  8. fine — all right
  9. spring — a coil
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. file — a tool
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. file — a line of people
  16. object — to protest
  17. object — a thing
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. bark — to shout
  20. spring — the season
  21. kid — to tease
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bark — of a tree

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