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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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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: degree · mark · pound · rule · bark · wake · fine · file

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. file — a document
  5. mark — a trace
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. rule — government
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. fine — high quality
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. file — a tool
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. mark — a grade
  18. rule — a law
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. pound — a weight
  21. fine — all right
  22. degree — temperature
  23. file — a line of people
  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