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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rock — music
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. rash — hasty
  6. date — the fruit
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. degree — temperature
  10. rash — a series
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. degree — an amount
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. rock — a stone
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — of a tree

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