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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: nail · sharp · perch · bound · row · scale · cap · degree

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. degree — temperature
  3. perch — the fish
  4. row — a line
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bound — obliged
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — size or range
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cap — a lid
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bound — tied together
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. degree — an amount
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bound — certain
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. cap — of ice

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