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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. court — of law
  3. bark — to shout
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. field — a subject
  6. drill — the tool
  7. object — a thing
  8. drill — army training
  9. court — of a king
  10. perch — the fish
  11. court — for sport
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. object — an aim
  15. field — for sport
  16. dip — to sink
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. drill — a practice
  20. object — to protest
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. field — farmland
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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