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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. field — a subject
  5. suit — to fit
  6. degree — an amount
  7. field — farmland
  8. charge — electricity
  9. squash — to crush
  10. charge — in control
  11. suit — in cards
  12. court — for sport
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bass — the fish
  15. field — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. bass — low music
  18. charge — a price
  19. court — of law
  20. suit — clothes
  21. degree — temperature
  22. squash — the sport
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. degree — from a university

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