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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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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: wave · degree · jam · spring · perch · kid · foot · bat

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. kid — to tease
  5. spring — the season
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kid — child
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — the fish
  16. bat — the animal
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. spring — of water
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. foot — a measure
  24. degree — from a university

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