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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. perch — the fish
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. lean — to bend
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lean — thin
  8. field — for sport
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. field — farmland
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. march — music
  15. kid — to tease
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. march — the month
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. march — the month
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. kid — child
  23. field — a subject
  24. degree — an amount

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