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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 116 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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. row — a line
  4. band — a ring
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. capital — money
  8. row — to paddle
  9. degree — from a university
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rush — hurry
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. degree — temperature
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. kick — in football

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