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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.

Make a worksheet

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: season · bass · mug · cold · perch · foot · kid · degree

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. season — in sport
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. cold — an illness
  9. mug — a face
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cold — not warm
  12. season — of the year
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. bass — the fish
  16. kid — child
  17. mug — to rob
  18. bass — low music
  19. degree — from a university
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. mug — a cup
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bass — the instrument

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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