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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 120 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: cabinet · bark · pound · tear · file · trunk · degree · season

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. file — a tool
  8. season — in sport
  9. file — a line of people
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. tear — to rip
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. file — a document
  15. tear — from crying
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bark — to shout
  18. season — of the year
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pound — a weight
  24. trunk — of a car

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