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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. bark — to shout
  7. court — of a king
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. date — the fruit
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. court — for sport
  12. degree — an amount
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. court — of law
  17. wind — moving air
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. degree — temperature
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. wind — moving air

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