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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 newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. degree — from a university
  7. foot — a measure
  8. file — a document
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. file — a tool
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bat — for baseball

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