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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 120 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: lean · kid · fall · plane · court · degree · squash · perch

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. fall — the season
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. squash — the sport
  7. lean — to bend
  8. plane — a tool
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. kid — child
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. lean — thin
  14. degree — from a university
  15. fall — to drop
  16. court — for sport
  17. fall — to drop
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. squash — to crush
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. court — of a king
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. kid — to tease

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