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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. swing — to play on
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. kid — to tease
  10. rash — hasty
  11. saw — the tool
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. rash — a series
  14. saw — the tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. chair — a leader
  17. degree — an amount
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. degree — temperature
  21. dip — to sink
  22. kid — child
  23. swing — music
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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