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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: last · leaves · degree · pitcher · game · perch · wind · straw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. degree — temperature
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. degree — from a university
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wind — moving air
  7. last — final
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. perch — the fish
  14. game — a match
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. last — to go on
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. last — finally
  24. wind — moving air

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