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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. file — a line of people
  9. row — to paddle
  10. file — a document
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. degree — from a university
  15. ball — a dance
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. row — a line
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. file — a tool
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bass — the fish

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