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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. spring — a coil
  2. club — for dancing
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. spring — the season
  5. lean — thin
  6. spring — of water
  7. perch — the fish
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ground — crushed
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. club — for golf
  14. degree — an amount
  15. ground — a position
  16. lean — to bend
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. club — a group
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. ground — the earth
  23. bark — to shout
  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