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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bark — to shout
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. lie — to recline
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. vault — a safe
  13. row — to paddle
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. row — a line
  16. rush — hurry
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. cell — in biology
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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