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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. march — music
  3. perch — the fish
  4. root — the cause
  5. game — wild animals
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. march — the month
  8. game — a match
  9. capital — money
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. degree — an amount
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. degree — temperature
  16. march — the month
  17. root — of a plant
  18. capital — a city
  19. bark — to shout
  20. root — of a word
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. kid — child
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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