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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  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. swing — to play on
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — not warm
  4. vault — a safe
  5. march — music
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. degree — an amount
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. content — the amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. march — the month
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. swing — music
  15. content — happy
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. march — the month
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. degree — from a university
  21. swing — in golf
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bark — of a tree
  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