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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pound — a weight
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. perch — the fish
  11. kid — child
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. degree — an amount
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. bark — to shout

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