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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spell — magic
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. degree — an amount
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. bark — to shout
  8. spell — a short time
  9. deal — to handle
  10. kick — in football
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. foot — a measure
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. court — for sport
  15. degree — temperature
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. court — of a king
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. spell — letters
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. court — of law
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cold — an illness

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