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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 116 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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. sharp — clever
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. band — a music group
  5. tear — from crying
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. tear — to rip
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. tear — from crying
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. band — a ring
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rule — government
  19. degree — an amount
  20. rush — hurry
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bark — to shout
  23. degree — from a university
  24. rule — a law

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