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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. degree — from a university
  3. march — the month
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. degree — temperature
  6. perch — the fish
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. tear — from crying
  10. season — of the year
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. degree — an amount
  15. season — in sport
  16. key — the most important part
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. tear — to rip
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. key — for a lock
  21. march — music
  22. row — to paddle
  23. key — in music
  24. march — the month

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