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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. file — a tool
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. cap — of ice
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. file — a line of people
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. fork — in a road
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cap — a hat
  13. spring — a coil
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. row — a line
  16. spring — of water
  17. file — a document
  18. cap — a lid
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. hand — help
  23. row — to paddle
  24. spring — the season

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