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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: bark · fine · bat · scale · degree · wind · perch · cold

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. scale — size or range
  6. degree — temperature
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cold — an illness
  12. scale — in music
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. wind — moving air
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bat — the animal
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. fine — all right
  22. cold — not warm
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wind — moving air

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