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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 116 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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pop — soda
  4. track — a song
  5. net — after costs
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. track — to keep track
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. track — a path
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cold — not warm
  13. game — a match
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. spring — of water
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. pop — to visit
  19. spring — the season
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. pop — music
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — wild animals
  24. spring — a coil

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