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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. scale — in music
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. degree — an amount
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. row — a line
  13. perch — the fish
  14. scale — size or range
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. branch — a division
  18. degree — temperature
  19. row — to paddle
  20. clip — a video
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. clip — for paper
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. clip — to cut

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