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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 124 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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. track — a path
  3. scale — in music
  4. squash — to crush
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. track — to keep track
  7. race — humankind
  8. ground — the earth
  9. track — a song
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ground — crushed
  12. degree — an amount
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. ground — a position
  16. saw — the tool
  17. squash — the sport
  18. race — a contest
  19. degree — from a university
  20. saw — the tool
  21. scale — size or range
  22. race — the arms race
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. perch — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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