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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wound — an injury
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. ground — the earth
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. toast — bread
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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