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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — not warm
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. swing — in golf
  6. degree — an amount
  7. perch — the fish
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. swing — music
  13. degree — temperature
  14. club — a group
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. swing — to play on
  17. club — for golf
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. dip — to sink
  23. club — for dancing
  24. stem — to come from

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