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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: present · pound · saw · bat · net · degree · bark · snap

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. saw — the tool
  5. net — in sport
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. snap — to click
  8. present — there
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. net — for catching
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. net — after costs
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. present — a gift
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. degree — temperature
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. degree — from a university
  21. present — the time now
  22. pound — a weight
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bat — the animal

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