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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: degree · firm · cell · snap · bark · coach

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. degree — from a university
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. firm — a company
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. firm — decided
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cell — in biology
  14. snap — to click
  15. degree — temperature
  16. firm — steady
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bark — to shout

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