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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. perch — the fish
  11. date — the fruit
  12. kid — child
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — letters
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. kid — to tease
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. spell — a short time
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bowl — a dish

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