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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. spring — of water
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. degree — temperature
  7. key — for a lock
  8. key — in music
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. degree — an amount
  11. spring — a coil
  12. season — of the year
  13. stock — goods
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. stock — shares
  16. key — the most important part
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. season — in sport
  20. spring — the season
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. degree — from a university
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. arm — part of the body

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