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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: suit · perch · bark · degree · present · march · bat · cold

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bark — to shout
  4. march — the month
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. present — the time now
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. march — music
  12. suit — to fit
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cold — not warm
  17. present — there
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. suit — clothes
  20. perch — the fish
  21. suit — in cards
  22. degree — temperature
  23. march — the month
  24. present — a gift

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