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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. perch — the fish
  3. degree — an amount
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bark — to shout
  6. root — the cause
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wake — a trail
  9. rash — hasty
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pop — soda
  12. race — a contest
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. root — of a word
  16. pop — music
  17. race — humankind
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. pop — to visit
  23. rash — a series
  24. root — of a plant

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