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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 116 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. drill — the tool
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. degree — an amount
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. rash — hasty
  7. perch — the fish
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. prune — to trim
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — music
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. swing — to play on
  14. rash — a series
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. drill — army training
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. drill — a practice
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. rush — hurry
  24. prune — the fruit

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