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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. key — in music
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wind — moving air
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. degree — from a university
  8. perch — the fish
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. degree — an amount
  11. key — for a lock
  12. swing — music
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — a practice
  16. swing — to play on
  17. wind — moving air
  18. season — of the year
  19. key — the most important part
  20. rash — a series
  21. swing — in golf
  22. season — in sport
  23. degree — temperature
  24. drill — army training

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