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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: drill · perch · degree · land · bore · hand · season · cue

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. cue — a hint
  3. degree — an amount
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cue — for pool
  7. bore — to tire
  8. land — to come down
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. drill — army training
  11. perch — the fish
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bore — to drill
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. degree — temperature
  19. drill — the tool
  20. degree — from a university
  21. drill — a practice
  22. cue — a signal
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. season — in sport

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