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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  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. bark — to shout
  2. content — the amount
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. fine — all right
  6. clip — a video
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. degree — from a university
  10. content — happy
  11. degree — an amount
  12. board — a committee
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bear — the animal
  16. board — to get on
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. spell — letters
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. fine — high quality
  23. spell — magic
  24. degree — temperature

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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