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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: shower · land · craft · straw · scale · face · perch · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. craft — a skill
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — rain
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. land — to come down
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. degree — an amount
  10. craft — boats
  11. scale — in music
  12. land — a country
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. degree — temperature
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. perch — the fish
  18. land — ground
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. face — to confront
  21. face — part of the head
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. scale — size or range
  24. face — to point toward

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