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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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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: pop · track · bark · tear · degree · staff · wound · bound

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. pop — soda
  3. staff — employees
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pop — to visit
  7. track — a song
  8. wound — an injury
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bound — certain
  13. track — to keep track
  14. tear — from crying
  15. track — a path
  16. pop — music
  17. wound — an injury
  18. tear — to rip
  19. staff — a stick
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. staff — employees
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. degree — from a university

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