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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 124 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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. degree — temperature
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spring — the season
  8. land — ground
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spell — letters
  11. degree — from a university
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. degree — an amount
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. land — a country
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. spell — magic
  18. spring — of water
  19. dip — to sink
  20. spring — a coil
  21. land — to come down
  22. mine — for digging
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mine — belonging to me

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