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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · spell · bark · foot · capital · perch · field · lash

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. degree — an amount
  3. field — farmland
  4. spell — magic
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. spell — letters
  8. bark — to shout
  9. field — for sport
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. spell — a short time
  12. capital — money
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. capital — a city
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. degree — from a university
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. field — a subject

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