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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. perch — the fish
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. court — for sport
  6. bark — to shout
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. court — of a king
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cold — an illness
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. court — of law
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — for a bird

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