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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. club — a group
  3. plane — a tool
  4. content — the amount
  5. branch — a division
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. content — happy
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. rash — hasty
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — for golf
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. rash — a series
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. bark — to shout

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