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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 116 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
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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: can · bark · degree · straw · race · key · field · wake

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. race — the arms race
  7. key — in music
  8. key — for a lock
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. can — a tin
  11. key — the most important part
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. can — a tin
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bark — to shout
  16. can — to be able to
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wake — a trail
  21. race — a contest
  22. degree — from a university
  23. field — farmland
  24. race — humankind

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