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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. bark — to shout
  3. degree — temperature
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. march — the month
  7. swing — music
  8. bound — certain
  9. court — for sport
  10. swing — to play on
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bound — tied together
  13. prune — to trim
  14. degree — from a university
  15. court — of law
  16. march — music
  17. march — the month
  18. bound — obliged
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. prune — to trim
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. swing — in golf

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