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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — to shout
  4. degree — an amount
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bass — the fish
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chair — a leader
  11. bass — low music
  12. fall — to drop
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. charge — in control
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fall — to drop
  17. charge — a price
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. charge — electricity
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fall — the season
  22. degree — from a university
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. bark — of a tree

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