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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. pop — soda
  5. perch — the fish
  6. cue — a hint
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. rock — a stone
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cue — for pool
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. spell — a short time
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. row — a line
  19. degree — from a university
  20. spell — letters
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rock — music
  23. row — to paddle
  24. spell — magic

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