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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. board — a committee
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. board — to get on
  9. capital — a city
  10. drill — the tool
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. key — for a lock
  13. degree — temperature
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — army training
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. tear — to rip
  18. key — the most important part
  19. capital — money
  20. pound — a weight
  21. tear — from crying
  22. key — in music
  23. tear — from crying
  24. degree — from a university

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