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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: rock · drill · stem · rule · snap · degree · ball · bark

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. rule — government
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bark — to shout
  7. rock — music
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. rule — a law
  13. ball — a dance
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. drill — army training
  16. stem — to come from
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. degree — temperature
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — a practice
  23. snap — to click
  24. rock — a stone

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