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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. snap — to click
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a tool
  10. bark — to shout
  11. pass — a permit
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. object — a thing
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. degree — from a university
  17. firm — a company
  18. firm — decided
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. object — to protest
  21. firm — steady
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. object — an aim
  24. degree — temperature

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