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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. degree — an amount
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bound — obliged
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. mine — for digging
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bark — to shout
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. degree — from a university
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. hand — help
  21. bound — tied together
  22. bound — certain
  23. pound — a weight
  24. bark — of a tree

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