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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. degree — an amount
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. tear — to rip
  5. mug — a cup
  6. tear — from crying
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. drill — army training
  9. degree — from a university
  10. mug — to rob
  11. land — to come down
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. mug — a face
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. land — a country
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bark — to shout
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — the tool
  22. land — ground
  23. kick — in football
  24. tear — from crying

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