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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: rule · spring · saw · march · can · cue · degree · perch

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cue — a signal
  3. can — a tin
  4. rule — a law
  5. can — to be able to
  6. march — the month
  7. degree — temperature
  8. march — music
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. degree — from a university
  12. spring — of water
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cue — for pool
  15. rule — government
  16. cue — a hint
  17. spring — the season
  18. march — the month
  19. perch — the fish
  20. saw — the tool
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. spring — a coil
  23. can — a tin
  24. perch — for a bird

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