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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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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 ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. degree — from a university
  3. last — final
  4. present — the time now
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. degree — an amount
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. last — finally
  9. chip — to eat
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. present — a gift
  13. perch — the fish
  14. kid — child
  15. present — there
  16. last — to go on
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. degree — temperature
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. chip — for betting

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