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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: mate · wake · mouse · track · chest · degree · tear · bark

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bark — to shout
  5. mate — to breed
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wake — a trail
  9. degree — temperature
  10. track — a song
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mate — a partner
  13. tear — from crying
  14. track — a path
  15. track — to keep track
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. chest — a box
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. degree — an amount

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