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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: cold · firm · degree · toast · lie · bark · lash · cell

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. firm — steady
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. degree — an amount
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. cold — an illness
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. bark — to shout
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. firm — decided
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. lie — to recline
  21. firm — a company
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. lash — to lash out

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