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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. ground — the earth
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. degree — an amount
  7. tube — the underground
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. rule — a law
  12. ground — crushed
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. rule — government
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. tube — a container
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ground — a position
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. degree — temperature
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bark — to shout
  24. fan — to cool the air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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