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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 120 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 · foot · swing · bear · land · mouse · degree · wind

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. degree — an amount
  4. foot — a measure
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — the animal
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. wind — moving air
  9. land — a country
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. swing — music
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — temperature
  16. land — ground
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. swing — to play on
  19. degree — from a university
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. perch — the fish
  22. land — to come down
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. swing — in golf

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