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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. mate — to breed
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. prune — to trim
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. degree — temperature
  8. mate — a friend
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. degree — an amount
  11. mate — a partner
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wind — moving air
  14. sharp — clever
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. date — the fruit
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. season — in sport
  24. sharp — with an edge

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