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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. capital — money
  6. pound — a weight
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. chest — of your body
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. snap — to click
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. perch — the fish
  15. chest — of your body
  16. capital — a city
  17. chest — a box
  18. capital — a big letter

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