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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: march · wound · land · mine · last · degree · perch · track

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mine — for digging
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. degree — an amount
  7. last — to go on
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. track — to keep track
  11. track — a song
  12. last — finally
  13. last — final
  14. land — to come down
  15. wound — an injury
  16. land — ground
  17. degree — from a university
  18. land — a country
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. track — a path
  22. perch — the fish
  23. march — the month
  24. wound — an injury

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