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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: land · bark · degree · perch · ball · shower · row · court

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. land — to come down
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. court — of law
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. perch — the fish
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. row — a line
  11. ball — a dance
  12. bark — to shout
  13. court — for sport
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. row — to paddle
  20. shower — rain
  21. land — a country
  22. court — of a king
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. land — ground

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