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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. rule — a law
  3. perch — the fish
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. capital — money
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. rule — government
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. ball — a dance
  24. capital — a city

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