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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. degree — from a university
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. chest — of your body
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. degree — an amount
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — to shout
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. chest — a box
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. kid — child
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. stand — to bear
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kid — to tease

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