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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 116 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: content · perch · track · capital · bark · court · club · present

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  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. content — videos and posts
  2. track — a path
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — a group
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — happy
  8. track — a song
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. court — for sport
  11. capital — a city
  12. track — to keep track
  13. capital — money
  14. present — the time now
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bark — to shout
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. court — of law
  19. club — for dancing
  20. present — there
  21. court — of a king
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  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