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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — the arms race
  10. mark — a trace
  11. present — the time now
  12. game — a match
  13. race — a contest
  14. bark — to shout
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. degree — from a university
  17. present — a gift
  18. game — wild animals
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. wake — a trail
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. mark — a grade
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. degree — temperature

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