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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · degree · file · snap · pound · rest

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a line of people
  4. rest — a break
  5. degree — from a university
  6. snap — to click
  7. bark — to shout
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. degree — an amount
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. pound — a weight
  18. file — a tool

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