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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: mug · toast · degree · bark · bulb · clip · chest · fall

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bulb — for light
  6. mug — a face
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. bark — to shout
  9. fall — to drop
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. mug — to rob
  12. degree — temperature
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. clip — to cut
  16. toast — bread
  17. fall — the season
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. chest — of your body
  22. degree — from a university
  23. fall — to drop
  24. mug — a cup

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