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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.

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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
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: perch · spell · lean · degree · cold · bass · land · vault

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. degree — temperature
  3. lean — to bend
  4. land — ground
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. land — to come down
  10. vault — a safe
  11. perch — the fish
  12. lean — thin
  13. degree — from a university
  14. land — a country
  15. spell — letters
  16. cold — not warm
  17. degree — an amount
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. cold — an illness
  20. spell — magic
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bass — low music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. perch — for a bird

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