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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. last — finally
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. last — final
  10. hand — in cards
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spring — the season
  13. hand — help
  14. bark — to shout
  15. last — to go on
  16. spring — a coil
  17. degree — from a university
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bore — to tire
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — crushed
  22. spring — of water
  23. bore — to drill
  24. fan — a supporter

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