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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. rush — hurry
  4. root — of a plant
  5. tear — from crying
  6. land — ground
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. game — wild animals
  11. chair — a leader
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. root — the cause
  18. game — a match
  19. root — of a word
  20. land — to come down
  21. perch — the fish
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. land — a country
  24. rush — a thrill

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