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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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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wind — moving air
  5. drill — a practice
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. drill — army training
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bark — to shout
  19. pitch — completely
  20. drill — the tool
  21. last — final
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. last — to go on
  24. foot — a measure

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