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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: perch · calf · date · cold · degree · spring · arm · wax

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cold — not warm
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. wax — to grow
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. perch — the fish
  15. date — the fruit
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. degree — an amount
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cold — an illness
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. wax — for sculpting

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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