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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 · rule · chair · degree · pound · coach

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. degree — from a university
  4. chair — a leader
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. rule — a law
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. degree — an amount
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. rule — government
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bark — to shout
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rule — to rule out

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