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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. perch — the fish
  3. field — a subject
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. field — farmland
  9. cell — in biology
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mark — a grade
  16. cell — a phone
  17. field — for sport
  18. pitcher — in baseball

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