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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. game — a match
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. face — to confront
  5. wake — a trail
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. spring — of water
  9. degree — from a university
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. stock — shares
  13. game — wild animals
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. stock — goods
  18. face — to point toward
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. face — part of the head
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. spring — the season
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bark — to shout

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