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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. kick — in football
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. rock — music
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. rock — a stone
  9. perch — the fish
  10. capital — money
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. pop — to visit
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. capital — a city
  15. mine — for digging
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — soda
  23. degree — from a university
  24. kick — with a leg

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