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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. field — for sport
  6. capital — a city
  7. vault — a safe
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. sharp — clever
  11. perch — the fish
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. field — a subject
  14. degree — temperature
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bark — to shout
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. capital — money
  21. degree — from a university
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. pound — a weight
  24. field — farmland

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