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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. perch — the fish
  3. degree — temperature
  4. scale — size or range
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. degree — an amount
  7. stand — to bear
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. game — a match
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. prune — to trim
  18. degree — from a university
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. hand — in cards
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. scale — in music
  23. game — wild animals
  24. hand — help

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