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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. degree — an amount
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. bark — to shout
  6. degree — from a university
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. mine — for digging
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. squash — the sport
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. squash — to crush

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