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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rest — a break
  4. rest — what's left
  5. degree — an amount
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — in football
  8. degree — temperature
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. row — a line
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. row — to paddle
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. track — a song
  17. rest — what's left
  18. track — a path
  19. track — to keep track
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bat — in an idiom

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