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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. degree — temperature
  3. band — a music group
  4. band — a ring
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. kid — child
  7. perch — the fish
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. mate — to breed
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. degree — from a university
  15. squash — to crush
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. ground — crushed
  18. mate — a partner
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. ground — a position
  21. squash — the sport
  22. mate — a friend
  23. degree — an amount
  24. ground — the earth

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