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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  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. cue — a hint
  2. shower — to wash
  3. object — to protest
  4. object — a thing
  5. degree — an amount
  6. object — an aim
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. clip — a video
  10. cue — for pool
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. clip — to cut
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. shower — rain
  22. cue — a signal
  23. dip — to sink
  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