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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 124 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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468
Word bank
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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. kick — in football
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. chest — of your body
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. mine — for digging
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. cell — in biology
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. club — a group
  12. club — for golf
  13. club — for dancing
  14. cell — a phone
  15. degree — from a university
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. degree — an amount
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bark — to shout
  21. chest — a box
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kick — with a leg

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