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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. degree — an amount
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. perch — the fish
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bark — to shout
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. tube — a container

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