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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 124 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. last — final
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. shower — to wash
  5. degree — an amount
  6. roll — a list
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. degree — from a university
  9. roll — a cake
  10. stock — goods
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. shower — rain
  15. last — finally
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. last — to go on
  19. rule — government
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stock — shares
  22. rule — a law
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. rule — to rule out

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