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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bound — certain
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bear — the animal
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bound — obliged
  12. degree — temperature
  13. game — a match
  14. bound — tied together
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. degree — from a university
  18. firm — a company
  19. degree — an amount
  20. firm — steady
  21. bear — the animal
  22. game — wild animals
  23. last — finally
  24. clip — for paper

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