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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. rule — a law
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. degree — an amount
  8. rule — government
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. swing — music
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. swing — in golf
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. field — a subject
  20. bark — to shout
  21. degree — from a university
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

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