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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 120 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. degree — from a university
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. perch — the fish
  5. spring — a coil
  6. mate — a friend
  7. spring — the season
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. court — of a king
  11. degree — an amount
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. mate — to breed
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. court — of law
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. court — for sport
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. degree — temperature
  23. spring — of water
  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