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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. board — a committee
  3. degree — temperature
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. net — in sport
  6. scale — in music
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. date — the fruit
  12. degree — an amount
  13. net — after costs
  14. bark — to shout
  15. degree — from a university
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. net — for catching
  18. mine — for digging
  19. board — to get on
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. bark — of a tree

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