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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. staff — employees
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bass — low music
  8. bass — the fish
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — the earth
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. degree — temperature
  14. staff — employees
  15. fall — the season
  16. ground — a position
  17. scale — in music
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bark — to shout
  21. staff — a stick
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. degree — an amount

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