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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. mark — a trace
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. degree — temperature
  5. spell — letters
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. degree — from a university
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. degree — an amount
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. mark — a grade
  16. spell — magic
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. file — a document
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. season — in sport
  22. spell — a short time
  23. bark — to shout
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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