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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. march — the month
  3. degree — an amount
  4. perch — the fish
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. degree — temperature
  9. plane — a tool
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. field — farmland
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. degree — from a university
  14. march — the month
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. march — music
  17. field — for sport
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. snap — to click
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. field — a subject

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