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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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. degree — temperature
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. perch — the fish
  6. mate — a friend
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. cold — not warm
  9. row — a line
  10. mate — to breed
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cold — an illness
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — in music
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. degree — an amount
  22. row — to paddle
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. mate — a partner

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