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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. degree — an amount
  3. club — a group
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. club — for golf
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. land — ground
  9. bark — to shout
  10. field — a subject
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. degree — from a university
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. land — a country
  16. club — for dancing
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. degree — temperature
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bay — a horse colour

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