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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — temperature
  3. pop — music
  4. hand — help
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. hand — in cards
  8. degree — an amount
  9. current — electric
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. pop — soda
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. current — of water
  15. pop — to visit
  16. perch — the fish
  17. court — of law
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — for sport
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. current — happening now

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