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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. degree — from a university
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. spring — the season
  6. degree — an amount
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. deal — to handle
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. net — in sport
  11. lean — to bend
  12. rock — music
  13. bark — to shout
  14. spring — a coil
  15. rock — a stone
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. net — for catching
  20. spring — of water
  21. net — after costs
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. degree — temperature
  24. nail — for a hammer

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