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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. present — a gift
  5. object — a thing
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. perch — the fish
  12. object — an aim
  13. foot — a measure
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. present — there
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. pass — a permit
  21. object — to protest
  22. squash — the sport
  23. present — the time now
  24. squash — to crush

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