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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. cold — an illness
  6. degree — an amount
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bear — the animal
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. perch — the fish
  14. bear — the animal
  15. squash — to crush
  16. pitch — completely
  17. cold — not warm
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — the sport
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. wind — moving air
  24. perch — for a bird

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