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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a dance
  6. prune — to trim
  7. game — wild animals
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. degree — temperature
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. perch — the fish
  14. game — a match
  15. degree — from a university
  16. prune — to trim
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. degree — an amount
  23. fall — to drop
  24. ball — a round shape

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