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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bound — tied together
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. rash — a series
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. ground — the earth
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bound — certain
  17. prune — to trim
  18. perch — the fish
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — a position
  21. degree — temperature
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. bark — to shout

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