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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: wound · perch · wake · mouse · cap · hand · pop · degree

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. degree — temperature
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. hand — in cards
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wake — a trail
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. degree — an amount
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. cap — a hat
  14. hand — help
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. pop — to visit
  18. cap — of ice
  19. pop — soda
  20. pop — music
  21. cap — a lid
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. wake — before a funeral

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