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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. rest — what's left
  4. degree — an amount
  5. drill — the tool
  6. rest — a break
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. drill — army training
  11. rest — what's left
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. pit — in a race
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. perch — the fish
  16. bat — the animal
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wax — to grow
  19. season — in sport
  20. pit — a hole
  21. season — of the year
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. drill — a practice

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