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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. degree — an amount
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. season — in sport
  7. degree — temperature
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. stem — to come from
  11. lie — to recline
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. bark — to shout
  16. charge — a price
  17. charge — electricity
  18. charge — in control
  19. degree — from a university
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. hand — help
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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