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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mate — a partner
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — of law
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — to breed
  10. court — for sport
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — from a university
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bark — to shout
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. mark — a grade
  21. mark — a trace
  22. prune — to trim
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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