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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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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: drill · deal · cell · pit · ground · mark · degree · perch

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mark — a grade
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. ground — crushed
  7. perch — the fish
  8. pit — a hole
  9. deal — to handle
  10. drill — a practice
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. cell — a phone
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. ground — a position
  20. mark — a trace
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. pit — in a race

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