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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pop — to visit
  4. degree — from a university
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. track — a song
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. wake — a trail
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. track — a path
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pop — music
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. degree — temperature
  20. track — to keep track
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. pop — soda
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. cold — an illness

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