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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: staff · row · perch · mate · face · degree · bark · band

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. degree — an amount
  3. row — to paddle
  4. degree — temperature
  5. face — part of the head
  6. degree — from a university
  7. mate — a partner
  8. staff — a stick
  9. face — to point toward
  10. staff — employees
  11. band — a ring
  12. staff — employees
  13. mate — a friend
  14. face — to confront
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. perch — the fish
  17. row — a line
  18. mate — to breed
  19. band — a music group
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bark — to shout
  24. perch — for a bird

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