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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. wind — moving air
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. tube — a container
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. degree — an amount
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. chip — for betting
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. degree — from a university
  16. chip — to eat
  17. wind — moving air
  18. tube — the underground
  19. degree — temperature
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. chip — in a computer

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