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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. spring — the season
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. degree — from a university
  6. dip — to sink
  7. lean — to bend
  8. press — to push
  9. lean — thin
  10. spring — of water
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — temperature
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. degree — an amount
  15. press — newspapers
  16. spring — a coil
  17. tear — from crying
  18. last — final
  19. tear — to rip
  20. last — finally
  21. bark — to shout
  22. press — a publisher
  23. last — to go on
  24. dip — a sauce

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