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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bark · branch · bat · chair · game · lie · tear · degree

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. tear — from crying
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. tear — from crying
  8. game — wild animals
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. chair — a leader
  11. lie — to recline
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. degree — temperature
  15. game — a match
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bat — the animal
  24. tear — to rip

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