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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. degree — from a university
  5. perch — the fish
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. mine — for digging
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bear — the animal
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bark — to shout
  13. track — a song
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. degree — an amount
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. track — a path
  18. track — to keep track
  19. scale — size or range
  20. scale — in music
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. bear — the animal
  24. game — a match

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