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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: chair · pass · squash · bark · degree · row · trunk · wound

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. squash — the sport
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. row — to paddle
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. pass — a permit
  14. chair — a leader
  15. wound — an injury
  16. row — a line
  17. degree — from a university
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bark — to shout
  21. squash — to crush
  22. degree — an amount
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. wound — an injury

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