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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. can — to be able to
  7. can — a tin
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. can — a tin
  13. snap — to click
  14. firm — a company
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. shower — rain
  17. degree — from a university
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. firm — decided
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. firm — steady

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