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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 116 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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. court — of a king
  3. degree — from a university
  4. lie — to recline
  5. court — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. court — of law
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. bark — to shout
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. swing — to play on
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. swing — music
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. field — a subject
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. field — for sport
  20. swing — in golf
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. prune — to trim
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. deal — to handle

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