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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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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: perch · band · content · tear · pound · saw · temple · degree

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. band — a music group
  3. tear — from crying
  4. saw — the tool
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. degree — from a university
  11. tear — to rip
  12. content — the amount
  13. pound — a weight
  14. tear — from crying
  15. content — happy
  16. band — a ring
  17. saw — the tool
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. degree — an amount
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — the fish
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pound — for dogs

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