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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 120 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: row · perch · hide · ball · degree · saw · hand · prune

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. row — a line
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. saw — the tool
  9. degree — from a university
  10. prune — to trim
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. ball — a dance
  13. hand — in cards
  14. prune — to trim
  15. ball — a great time
  16. saw — the tool
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. degree — temperature
  20. perch — the fish
  21. hand — help
  22. row — to paddle
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. degree — an amount

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