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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. degree — an amount
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. hand — help
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. present — there
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. degree — from a university
  13. net — for catching
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bore — to tire
  16. net — after costs
  17. bore — to drill
  18. present — a gift
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. prune — to trim
  22. present — the time now
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. net — in sport

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