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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. object — to protest
  6. pop — soda
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. pop — music
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cold — an illness
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pop — to visit
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. object — a thing
  18. bark — to shout
  19. object — an aim
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cold — not warm
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. degree — an amount

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