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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: bay · firm · squash · spring · degree · straw · pop · bark

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. firm — a company
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. pop — soda
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. pop — music
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. firm — decided
  15. firm — steady
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pop — to visit
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bark — to shout
  20. spring — of water
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. squash — to crush
  23. squash — the sport
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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