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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. degree — an amount
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. lean — to bend
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. snap — to click
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. bark — to shout
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. lean — thin
  16. game — a match
  17. rush — hurry
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. net — for catching

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