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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. degree — from a university
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. mine — for digging
  7. stock — shares
  8. staff — a stick
  9. degree — temperature
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — in sport
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. staff — employees
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. net — after costs
  17. degree — an amount
  18. staff — employees
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. stock — goods
  23. perch — the fish
  24. stock — a soup base

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