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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 116 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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. degree — temperature
  3. ground — the earth
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. clip — for paper
  7. net — in sport
  8. clip — a video
  9. last — to go on
  10. degree — an amount
  11. last — finally
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. face — to point toward
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — crushed
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. net — after costs
  18. clip — to cut
  19. face — part of the head
  20. face — to confront
  21. net — for catching
  22. last — final
  23. degree — from a university
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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