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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 116 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 · can · degree · ball · hide · hand · perch · file

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

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

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