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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 120 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: kid · clip · degree · bat · perch · calf · bore · wave

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. wave — of the sea
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bat — the animal
  4. clip — a video
  5. degree — from a university
  6. kid — child
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. perch — the fish
  9. bore — to drill
  10. degree — temperature
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bore — to tire
  13. kid — to tease
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. degree — an amount
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. clip — for paper
  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