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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. mate — a partner
  3. staff — employees
  4. face — part of the head
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — an amount
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. mate — to breed
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. squash — the sport
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. mate — a friend
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. bark — to shout
  17. face — to point toward
  18. pound — a weight
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. face — to confront
  22. staff — a stick
  23. degree — from a university
  24. staff — employees

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