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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. court — for sport
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. court — of a king
  6. perch — the fish
  7. degree — from a university
  8. capital — money
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. ground — a position
  11. bark — to shout
  12. court — of law
  13. game — wild animals
  14. capital — a city
  15. lie — to recline
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ground — crushed
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. game — a match
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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