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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bark — to shout
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. club — for golf
  6. kid — child
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. tear — from crying
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. tear — to rip
  13. club — a group
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. tear — from crying
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cell — in biology
  22. club — for dancing
  23. cell — a phone
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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