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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. rest — what's left
  3. degree — from a university
  4. mark — a grade
  5. clip — a video
  6. degree — temperature
  7. mark — a trace
  8. root — the cause
  9. shower — to wash
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. root — of a word
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. degree — an amount
  15. clip — for paper
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bark — to shout
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. game — a match
  21. root — of a plant
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. shower — rain

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