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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. rash — hasty
  5. wound — an injury
  6. fall — the season
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. pit — in a race
  10. fall — to drop
  11. rash — a series
  12. fall — to drop
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. degree — an amount
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bark — to shout
  24. degree — temperature

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