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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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Word bank
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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: drill · race · chest · bark · degree · leaves

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. drill — army training
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bark — to shout
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. drill — a practice
  11. chest — of your body
  12. degree — temperature
  13. race — humankind
  14. drill — the tool
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — the arms race
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bark — a dog's sound

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