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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 116 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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. field — a subject
  4. degree — an amount
  5. drill — a practice
  6. spell — magic
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — to shout
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. drill — army training
  13. branch — a division
  14. spell — a short time
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. field — for sport
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. drill — the tool
  22. field — farmland
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. coach — a trainer

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