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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. degree — temperature
  3. scale — size or range
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. track — a song
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bank — of a river
  9. bank — for money
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — to wash
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. perch — the fish
  16. shower — rain
  17. degree — from a university
  18. track — to keep track
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. track — a path
  22. spell — magic
  23. bank — for money
  24. scale — in music

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