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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. drill — the tool
  6. cap — of ice
  7. degree — from a university
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. drill — a practice
  10. scale — size or range
  11. club — a group
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. rush — hurry
  17. club — for golf
  18. cap — a hat
  19. drill — army training
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cap — a lid
  22. degree — an amount
  23. scale — in music
  24. club — for dancing

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