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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. mark — a trace
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. degree — from a university
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. hand — in cards
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. scale — size or range
  14. hand — help
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. degree — an amount
  18. scale — in music
  19. vault — a safe
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. mark — a grade
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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