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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. band — a music group
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. degree — from a university
  5. perch — the fish
  6. bound — certain
  7. bound — obliged
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bound — tied together
  11. swing — to play on
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. degree — temperature
  14. sharp — clever
  15. swing — in golf
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. hand — help
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. hand — in cards
  23. swing — music
  24. degree — an amount

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