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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pop — soda
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. pass — a permit
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pop — to visit
  14. bark — to shout
  15. present — a gift
  16. game — a match
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. kick — in football
  20. present — there
  21. chest — of your body
  22. game — wild animals
  23. present — the time now
  24. pop — music

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