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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bank — for money
  6. game — a match
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. game — wild animals
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. hand — help
  14. fine — high quality
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bank — for money
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — to shout
  20. hand — in cards
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bank — of a river
  23. degree — an amount
  24. toast — bread

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