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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. cue — for pool
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. rash — hasty
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rash — a series
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. pit — in a race
  14. snap — to click
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cue — a signal
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cue — a hint
  24. pit — a hole

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