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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 116 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: shower · plane · perch · degree · mug · rest · trunk · straw

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. plane — a tool
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rest — a break
  11. mug — to rob
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. mug — a face
  17. mug — a cup
  18. shower — rain
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. degree — temperature
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. shower — to wash
  24. degree — from a university

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