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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: cold · bass · mark · bark · field · perch · chair · court

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bass — low music
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. court — of law
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. court — of a king
  13. field — a subject
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. bass — the fish
  17. court — for sport
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. mark — a grade
  21. bark — to shout
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. mark — a trace
  24. cold — an illness

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