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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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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. perch — the fish
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. cell — a phone
  13. kid — child
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cell — in biology
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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