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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: degree · perch · wake · can · sharp · bark · bat · spring

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. can — to be able to
  4. can — a tin
  5. wake — a trail
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. can — a tin
  11. sharp — clever
  12. degree — an amount
  13. spring — the season
  14. degree — from a university
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — of water
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bark — to shout
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. perch — the fish

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