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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. march — the month
  3. kid — to tease
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. degree — temperature
  8. fork — in a road
  9. march — music
  10. degree — an amount
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. kid — child
  16. march — the month
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bark — to shout
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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