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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. staff — a stick
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. tear — from crying
  7. staff — employees
  8. mug — a cup
  9. shower — to wash
  10. mug — to rob
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. kid — to tease
  13. tear — from crying
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. mug — a face
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wake — a trail
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bark — to shout
  24. staff — employees

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