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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. board — to get on
  5. bound — obliged
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. last — finally
  8. degree — an amount
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stock — shares
  11. clip — to cut
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. stock — goods
  14. last — to go on
  15. bark — to shout
  16. last — final
  17. board — a committee
  18. bound — certain
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bound — tied together
  21. kid — child
  22. degree — from a university
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — a video

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