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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: file · land · perch · calf · wound · degree · coach · drill

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. wound — an injury
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. wound — an injury
  5. degree — from a university
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. land — a country
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. file — a tool
  11. land — to come down
  12. drill — the tool
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. drill — a practice
  16. land — ground
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. degree — an amount
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. perch — the fish
  23. drill — army training
  24. degree — temperature

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