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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: bark · perch · bat · face · field · mark · degree · staff

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. degree — an amount
  3. field — a subject
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. degree — from a university
  6. field — farmland
  7. mark — a grade
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. field — for sport
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bat — the animal
  12. face — to confront
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mark — a trace
  15. face — to point toward
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. staff — employees
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. staff — employees
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. staff — a stick
  23. face — part of the head
  24. degree — temperature

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