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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: key · perch · scale · date · ground · degree · spring · tube

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. scale — in music
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. key — for a lock
  6. degree — from a university
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. spring — a coil
  10. degree — temperature
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. perch — the fish
  15. key — the most important part
  16. tube — a container
  17. spring — of water
  18. date — the fruit
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. key — in music
  22. degree — an amount
  23. spring — the season
  24. ground — crushed

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