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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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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: march · perch · kid · season · degree · chest · foot · mate

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. march — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. degree — an amount
  6. mate — a partner
  7. chest — of your body
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — to breed
  14. perch — the fish
  15. season — of the year
  16. degree — from a university
  17. march — the month
  18. chest — a box
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. march — the month
  21. season — in sport
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. kid — child
  24. foot — a measure

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