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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a hint
  4. cue — a signal
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. march — the month
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bark — to shout
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. march — the month
  14. rush — hurry
  15. degree — an amount
  16. fine — all right
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. degree — from a university
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. march — music
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. degree — temperature
  24. fine — a penalty

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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