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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: mate · degree · perch · court · stick · drill · squash · fall

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. degree — from a university
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. mate — a friend
  5. drill — army training
  6. mate — to breed
  7. degree — an amount
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. drill — the tool
  10. fall — to drop
  11. perch — the fish
  12. drill — a practice
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. mate — a partner
  15. court — of a king
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. degree — temperature
  18. court — for sport
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — to crush
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. court — of law
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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