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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. rule — a law
  3. degree — an amount
  4. court — for sport
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bound — tied together
  7. degree — temperature
  8. bark — to shout
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bound — certain
  11. kid — child
  12. bound — obliged
  13. degree — from a university
  14. court — of a king
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. hand — help
  18. rule — government
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. court — of law
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. kid — to tease

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