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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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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bark — to shout
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. game — a match
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. rule — a law
  11. rule — government
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. deal — to handle
  15. prune — to trim
  16. game — wild animals
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. degree — temperature
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. prune — to trim

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