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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. rush — hurry
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. prune — to trim
  12. ground — crushed
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. net — after costs
  15. degree — from a university
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. net — for catching
  18. mine — for digging
  19. ground — a position
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. pound — a weight
  22. ground — the earth
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. bark — to shout

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