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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: degree · clip · cabinet · perch · row · tear · temple · game

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — to paddle
  4. row — a line
  5. degree — an amount
  6. clip — for paper
  7. tear — from crying
  8. game — wild animals
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. degree — temperature
  12. clip — a video
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. degree — from a university
  16. game — a match
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. tear — to rip
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. clip — to cut

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