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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. squash — the sport
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. pit — in a race
  7. degree — from a university
  8. court — of a king
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. court — of law
  16. squash — to crush
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. court — for sport
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. shower — rain
  24. squash — the vegetable

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