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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bank — for money
  4. prune — to trim
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bank — of a river
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. saw — the tool
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. saw — the tool
  15. row — a line
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bank — for money
  18. row — to paddle
  19. vault — a safe
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — an amount
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. bark — of a tree

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