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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: saw · club · safe · bark · roll · drill · degree · cold

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. drill — a practice
  4. bark — to shout
  5. degree — temperature
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — army training
  10. club — for dancing
  11. club — for golf
  12. cold — an illness
  13. roll — a cake
  14. cold — not warm
  15. club — a group
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. degree — from a university
  18. saw — the tool
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. saw — the tool
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. degree — an amount
  24. roll — a list

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