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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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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. row — a line
  3. dip — to sink
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. vault — a safe
  6. field — farmland
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. capital — a city
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. date — the fruit
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. field — a subject
  18. bark — to shout
  19. capital — money
  20. perch — the fish
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. field — for sport
  24. row — to paddle

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