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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 my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bark — to shout
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. last — finally
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. clip — to cut
  10. branch — a division
  11. last — final
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. ground — the earth
  17. clip — for paper
  18. last — to go on
  19. clip — a video
  20. degree — from a university
  21. ground — a position
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. ground — crushed
  24. degree — an amount

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