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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 120 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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. land — to come down
  3. bound — certain
  4. last — to go on
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. tube — the underground
  7. last — final
  8. land — a country
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bound — obliged
  11. degree — from a university
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. bark — to shout
  14. stem — to come from
  15. degree — temperature
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. bound — tied together
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. land — ground
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. tube — a container
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. degree — an amount
  24. last — finally

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