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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. staff — employees
  3. spell — a short time
  4. drill — the tool
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. spell — letters
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. degree — an amount
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. drill — army training
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. sharp — clever
  13. staff — employees
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bore — to tire
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. spell — magic
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. drill — a practice

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