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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: tear · perch · race · mate · craft · cell · degree · prune

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — a contest
  3. mate — to breed
  4. prune — to trim
  5. race — the arms race
  6. degree — an amount
  7. race — humankind
  8. degree — temperature
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. tear — from crying
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. tear — from crying
  15. craft — boats
  16. cell — a phone
  17. mate — a friend
  18. tear — to rip
  19. mate — a partner
  20. perch — the fish
  21. cell — in biology
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. craft — a skill

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