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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — the fish
  3. sharp — clever
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. field — farmland
  6. can — a tin
  7. stem — to come from
  8. track — to keep track
  9. track — a song
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. field — for sport
  14. track — a path
  15. rush — hurry
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. cold — not warm
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. field — a subject
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. can — a tin
  24. can — to be able to

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