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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — crushed
  4. file — a line of people
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. pitch — completely
  7. degree — temperature
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. file — a document
  11. bark — to shout
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — letters
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. file — a tool
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. ground — a position
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. kick — in football
  23. degree — an amount
  24. patient — a sick person

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