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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 116 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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. track — a song
  3. bore — to drill
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. race — the arms race
  6. prune — to trim
  7. court — for sport
  8. perch — the fish
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. race — humankind
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bore — to tire
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cell — a phone
  16. court — of law
  17. cell — in biology
  18. race — a contest
  19. track — to keep track
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. court — of a king
  22. track — a path
  23. degree — an amount
  24. perch — for a bird

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