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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 120 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. present — there
  4. rock — a stone
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. degree — temperature
  9. court — for sport
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. rock — music
  12. court — of law
  13. squash — the sport
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. court — of a king
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. squash — to crush
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bark — to shout
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. present — the time now
  22. degree — an amount
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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