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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bark · key · cold · row · drill · pitcher · degree · tube

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. cold — not warm
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. degree — from a university
  6. tube — the underground
  7. drill — army training
  8. drill — the tool
  9. degree — an amount
  10. key — in music
  11. key — for a lock
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. tube — a container
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. degree — temperature
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. cold — an illness
  21. drill — a practice
  22. bark — to shout
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. tube — in a tire

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