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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. degree — from a university
  3. shower — rain
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — for betting
  6. mark — a grade
  7. squash — to crush
  8. chip — to eat
  9. squash — the sport
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. degree — an amount
  12. swing — to play on
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. shower — to wash
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. mark — a trace
  18. perch — the fish
  19. roll — a cake
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. degree — temperature
  24. roll — a list

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