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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. track — a path
  4. kid — to tease
  5. track — to keep track
  6. drill — a practice
  7. track — a song
  8. degree — from a university
  9. kid — child
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bark — to shout
  13. drill — army training
  14. tear — from crying
  15. drill — the tool
  16. chip — to eat
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. degree — temperature
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. chip — for betting
  21. degree — an amount
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. tear — to rip

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