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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 120 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: cue · bay · kid · degree · file · saw · bark · firm

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. firm — a company
  3. cue — a signal
  4. cue — a hint
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. file — a document
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. kid — child
  10. file — a tool
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. degree — from a university
  13. file — a line of people
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. kid — to tease
  17. saw — the tool
  18. firm — decided
  19. firm — steady
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cue — for pool
  24. bark — to shout

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