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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. date — the fruit
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. march — the month
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. scale — in music
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. bark — to shout
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. degree — temperature
  17. race — a contest
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. cell — in biology
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. degree — an amount
  23. scale — size or range
  24. race — humankind

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