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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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468
Word bank
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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. row — a line
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pit — a hole
  10. fork — in a road
  11. row — to paddle
  12. spring — of water
  13. bark — to shout
  14. pit — in a race
  15. degree — from a university
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. spring — the season
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitch — completely

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