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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. root — of a word
  4. bass — the fish
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bass — low music
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bore — to drill
  14. saw — the tool
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. root — the cause
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. pit — in a race
  20. root — of a plant
  21. bore — to tire
  22. saw — the tool
  23. pit — a hole
  24. straw — dry grass

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