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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 · mark · season · pitcher · degree · tube · bark · bat

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. tube — the underground
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. mark — a grade
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bat — the animal
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. degree — temperature
  13. mark — a trace
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. season — of the year
  16. tube — a container
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. season — in sport
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bark — to shout
  22. perch — the fish
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bat — for baseball

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