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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 116 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: cap · bark · wind · fall · kick · march · degree · spell

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. march — music
  3. bark — to shout
  4. degree — an amount
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spell — letters
  8. fall — the season
  9. cap — a hat
  10. spell — a short time
  11. fall — to drop
  12. kick — in football
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cap — of ice
  17. wind — moving air
  18. march — the month
  19. cap — a lid
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — from a university
  22. spell — magic
  23. degree — temperature
  24. fall — to drop

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