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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · fork · deal · perch · firm · cold

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. firm — steady
  5. cold — not warm
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. firm — decided
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. perch — the fish
  11. fork — in a road
  12. degree — temperature
  13. firm — a company
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. deal — to handle
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. degree — from a university
  18. deal — an agreement

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