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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: face · pitcher · season · drill · field · degree · perch · trunk

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. drill — a practice
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. drill — army training
  11. face — part of the head
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. perch — the fish
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. face — to confront
  16. season — of the year
  17. drill — the tool
  18. face — to point toward
  19. field — for sport
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. field — farmland
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. field — a subject
  24. season — in sport

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