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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. firm — a company
  5. stand — to bear
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. chest — a box
  11. firm — steady
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. firm — decided
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. bark — to shout
  16. tube — a container
  17. pound — a weight
  18. degree — an amount
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pound — for dogs

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