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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: rest · content · bat · degree · march · dip · perch · ground

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. rest — what's left
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. content — happy
  5. dip — to sink
  6. bat — the animal
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. perch — the fish
  9. ground — the earth
  10. march — the month
  11. ground — crushed
  12. content — the amount
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. rest — what's left
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. degree — an amount
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. degree — from a university
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — temperature
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. march — music
  24. rest — a break

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