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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. net — in sport
  7. drill — the tool
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. net — after costs
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. net — for catching
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. saw — the tool
  17. degree — temperature
  18. drill — army training
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. branch — a division
  22. drill — a practice
  23. degree — from a university
  24. saw — the tool

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