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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 116 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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. degree — temperature
  3. band — a ring
  4. lean — to bend
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. lean — thin
  9. dip — to sink
  10. band — a music group
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. bass — low music
  14. file — a document
  15. bass — the fish
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. file — a tool
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. degree — an amount
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bark — to shout

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