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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 120 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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. present — a gift
  3. net — for catching
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cold — not warm
  7. lean — thin
  8. pop — to visit
  9. degree — temperature
  10. net — in sport
  11. present — there
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rush — hurry
  14. net — after costs
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — to shout
  17. present — the time now
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pop — soda
  20. pop — music
  21. cold — an illness
  22. degree — from a university
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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