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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 116 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: rash · rule · can · degree · perch · current · cold · field

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rule — a law
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cold — an illness
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. field — a subject
  7. degree — temperature
  8. rule — government
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — for sport
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. current — electric
  13. can — a tin
  14. rash — hasty
  15. current — happening now
  16. rash — a series
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. field — farmland
  19. perch — the fish
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — to be able to
  24. current — of water

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