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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.

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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: bound · bore · scale · perch · spring · degree · last · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. bore — to tire
  4. spring — of water
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. last — to go on
  9. spring — a coil
  10. scale — in music
  11. bound — obliged
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. last — finally
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. last — final
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bound — certain
  19. scale — size or range
  20. spring — the season
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bore — to drill
  24. fork — in a road

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