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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bark — to shout
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. kid — child
  7. pop — soda
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. pop — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. bass — low music
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wake — a trail
  22. degree — from a university
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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