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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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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: present · season · court · bark · degree · root · perch · chair

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. court — of a king
  3. degree — from a university
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. court — of law
  10. season — of the year
  11. root — of a word
  12. root — the cause
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. season — in sport
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. degree — temperature
  20. root — of a plant
  21. court — for sport
  22. present — the time now
  23. present — there
  24. degree — an amount

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