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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. degree — temperature
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — to shout
  8. file — a tool
  9. wind — moving air
  10. plane — a tool
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. file — a document
  14. wind — moving air
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. rash — a series
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. rash — hasty
  20. degree — from a university
  21. dip — to sink
  22. file — a line of people
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. wind — to turn a key

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