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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  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. snap — to click
  2. spring — a coil
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — government
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. degree — from a university
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. ground — a position
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. board — a committee
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. board — to get on
  17. ground — crushed
  18. spring — of water
  19. ground — the earth
  20. spring — the season
  21. bark — to shout
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  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