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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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. scale — for weighing
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. field — a subject
  6. race — humankind
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. scale — size or range
  9. bark — to shout
  10. field — for sport
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. field — farmland
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. scale — in music
  20. race — the arms race
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. race — a contest
  23. pass — a permit
  24. calf — of the leg

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