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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 120 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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. degree — temperature
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. bark — to shout
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. net — in sport
  9. land — ground
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. degree — from a university
  13. current — electric
  14. land — a country
  15. current — of water
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. ball — a dance
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. degree — an amount
  20. current — happening now
  21. net — after costs
  22. land — to come down
  23. net — for catching
  24. ball — a great time

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