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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — temperature
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. degree — an amount
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. branch — a division
  7. perch — the fish
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. last — to go on
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bass — the fish
  15. fork — in a road
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bass — low music
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. last — final
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. last — finally
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. branch — of a tree

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