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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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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: perch · pit · pop · bat · degree · bark · mate · fork

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mate — a friend
  3. degree — temperature
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. mate — a partner
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pop — soda
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. pop — to visit
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. pit — a hole
  19. perch — the fish
  20. fork — in a road
  21. mate — to breed
  22. pit — in a race
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pop — music

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