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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: hand · lie · squash · ground · tube · file · degree · bark

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. bark — to shout
  3. file — a document
  4. degree — an amount
  5. file — a tool
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. file — a line of people
  9. tube — a container
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. squash — the sport
  15. degree — temperature
  16. hand — help
  17. lie — to recline
  18. squash — to crush
  19. hand — in cards
  20. ground — a position
  21. tube — the underground
  22. ground — crushed
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. hand — part of the body

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