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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — to shout
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. sharp — clever
  6. club — for golf
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. game — a match
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — to visit
  12. rush — hurry
  13. degree — an amount
  14. club — for dancing
  15. pop — music
  16. game — wild animals
  17. degree — from a university
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. club — a group
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. game — a kind of play

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