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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. degree — temperature
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. last — to go on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. tear — from crying
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. shower — rain
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. tear — to rip
  16. degree — an amount
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. shower — to wash
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. sharp — clever

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