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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: mate · clip · ruler · squash · degree · perch

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mate — a friend
  3. degree — an amount
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. degree — temperature
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — to crush
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. clip — for paper
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. degree — from a university
  13. mate — a partner
  14. clip — a video
  15. perch — the fish
  16. mate — to breed
  17. squash — the sport
  18. ruler — for measuring

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