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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 · cell · degree · rush · snap · drill · march · tube

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. march — the month
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. march — the month
  5. perch — the fish
  6. tube — the underground
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. drill — the tool
  11. cell — in biology
  12. snap — to click
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. tube — a container
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. degree — from a university
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. march — music
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — a phone
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — a practice
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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