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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — to cut
  4. track — a path
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rest — what's left
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rest — what's left
  11. degree — an amount
  12. game — a match
  13. clip — a video
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. track — a song
  18. game — wild animals
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. rest — a break
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. rash — a series
  24. track — to keep track

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