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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cold — an illness
  4. staff — a stick
  5. wax — to grow
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. perch — the fish
  8. mate — a partner
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. staff — employees
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — to breed
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. staff — employees
  16. cold — not warm
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. rock — music
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. dip — to sink
  24. rock — a stone

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