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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 116 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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. last — to go on
  4. bark — to shout
  5. last — finally
  6. mug — to rob
  7. mug — a face
  8. degree — an amount
  9. file — a tool
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. degree — temperature
  14. last — final
  15. squash — to crush
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a line of people
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. squash — the sport
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. kick — in football
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mug — a cup
  24. racket — for tennis

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