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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. firm — decided
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. firm — a company
  10. degree — from a university
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. firm — steady
  17. rock — a stone
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. snap — to click
  20. bark — to shout
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cell — in biology
  23. degree — an amount
  24. coach — a trainer

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