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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mate · perch · bear · hand · clip · trunk · degree · pitcher

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. mate — a friend
  5. bear — the animal
  6. degree — from a university
  7. clip — a video
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. degree — an amount
  12. hand — help
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. degree — temperature
  17. perch — the fish
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. hand — in cards
  22. clip — to cut
  23. mate — a partner
  24. hand — part of the body

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