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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. last — to go on
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. bark — to shout
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. last — final
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. degree — an amount
  12. pound — a weight
  13. last — finally
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. tube — a container
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. degree — temperature
  24. tube — the underground

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