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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bark — to shout
  3. game — wild animals
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. row — a line
  7. press — a publisher
  8. game — a match
  9. tube — the underground
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. row — to paddle
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. deal — to handle
  15. degree — an amount
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. degree — temperature
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. tube — a container
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. press — newspapers
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. press — to push

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