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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. last — final
  3. wound — an injury
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. degree — temperature
  8. rock — music
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. plane — a tool
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. perch — the fish
  14. hand — help
  15. wound — an injury
  16. degree — from a university
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. rock — a stone
  19. hand — in cards
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — finally
  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