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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: degree · pit · patient · pop · row · mine · trunk · perch

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pop — to visit
  5. degree — from a university
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pop — soda
  12. row — a line
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pop — music
  18. perch — the fish
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. degree — temperature
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pit — a hole

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