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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. present — a gift
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. present — there
  9. pop — soda
  10. foot — a measure
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. pop — music
  15. rush — hurry
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. present — the time now
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pop — to visit
  24. degree — an amount

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