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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. rule — government
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. spring — the season
  7. bear — the animal
  8. degree — temperature
  9. perch — the fish
  10. rule — a law
  11. spring — of water
  12. bear — the animal
  13. chest — a box
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spring — a coil
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. chest — of your body
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. chest — of your body

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