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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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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: shower · lash · season · perch · bat · foot · pitch · degree

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. bat — the animal
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. perch — the fish
  14. pitch — completely
  15. shower — rain
  16. season — in sport
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. degree — temperature
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. shower — to wash
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. degree — an amount
  24. foot — a measure

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