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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. perch — the fish
  3. club — for golf
  4. stock — shares
  5. club — a group
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. degree — an amount
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — temperature
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. tear — to rip
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. degree — from a university
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. squash — to crush
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. stock — goods
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. plane — a tool
  22. club — for dancing
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. tear — from crying

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