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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. bass — the fish
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mark — a grade
  6. mark — a trace
  7. spring — the season
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. degree — an amount
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a tool
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. content — the amount
  16. spring — of water
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bass — low music
  20. pass — a permit
  21. perch — the fish
  22. content — happy
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. pass — to spend time

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