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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. bark — to shout
  4. degree — from a university
  5. squash — the sport
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. snap — to click
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. rash — a series
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. degree — temperature
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. squash — to crush
  23. foot — a measure
  24. rash — hasty

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