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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. ground — crushed
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wake — a trail
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. bark — to shout
  9. ground — the earth
  10. degree — temperature
  11. drill — a practice
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. degree — from a university
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. saw — the tool
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. ground — a position
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. vault — a safe

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