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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. spell — letters
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bark — to shout
  10. degree — temperature
  11. stand — to bear
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. degree — from a university
  15. spell — magic
  16. game — a match
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. spell — a short time
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. degree — an amount
  21. perch — the fish
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. game — wild animals
  24. pitch — completely

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