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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.

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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 · ground · degree · foot · mine · fork · file · lean

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. perch — the fish
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a document
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. ground — the earth
  11. file — a line of people
  12. ground — crushed
  13. degree — from a university
  14. ground — a position
  15. foot — a measure
  16. lean — to bend
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mine — for digging
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. fork — in a road
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. lean — thin

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