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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. court — for sport
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. march — the month
  5. court — of law
  6. clip — for paper
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. field — for sport
  9. march — the month
  10. clip — a video
  11. field — a subject
  12. perch — the fish
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. clip — to cut
  16. field — farmland
  17. march — music
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wax — to grow
  22. court — of a king
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. bowl — a football final

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