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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.

Make a worksheet

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: wind · present · rule · degree · land · perch · court · last

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. rule — government
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — an amount
  6. last — final
  7. present — there
  8. court — of a king
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. last — to go on
  12. present — the time now
  13. court — of law
  14. land — ground
  15. degree — temperature
  16. land — to come down
  17. wind — moving air
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. last — finally
  20. perch — the fish
  21. court — for sport
  22. land — a country
  23. present — a gift
  24. wind — moving air

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