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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. fork — in a road
  5. field — a subject
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. track — to keep track
  11. track — a path
  12. kid — child
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. field — farmland
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. rash — a series
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. field — for sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. track — a song
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bark — to shout
  24. kid — to tease

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