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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: perch · degree · cold · pound · calf · net · ball · trunk

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. ball — a dance
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. cold — not warm
  5. degree — an amount
  6. net — in sport
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a great time
  12. perch — the fish
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pound — a weight
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — from a university
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. net — after costs
  24. net — for catching

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