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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bark — to shout
  4. chip — for betting
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. degree — temperature
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. stand — to bear
  23. chip — to eat
  24. stand — on your feet

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