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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. perch — the fish
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. spring — a coil
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spring — the season
  8. bass — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wind — moving air
  11. swing — in golf
  12. bass — low music
  13. last — finally
  14. spring — of water
  15. wind — moving air
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — to play on
  18. last — final

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