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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 116 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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bore — to drill
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bore — to tire
  16. tube — a container
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. leaves — lets stay

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