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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. deal — to handle
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. saw — the tool
  5. sharp — clever
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — letters
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. saw — the tool
  11. perch — the fish
  12. spring — a coil
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bat — the animal
  19. wound — an injury
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. spring — the season
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. spring — of water
  24. spell — magic

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