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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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Word bank
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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: scale · mate · degree · ruler · last · pound

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. last — to go on
  6. scale — size or range
  7. mate — a friend
  8. pound — a weight
  9. degree — temperature
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. mate — to breed
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. scale — in music
  14. degree — from a university
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. mate — a partner

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