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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. charge — a price
  3. charge — in control
  4. cell — a phone
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. cell — in biology
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. fork — in a road
  11. shower — to wash
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. chest — of your body
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. sharp — clever
  17. charge — electricity
  18. shower — rain
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. perch — the fish
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. chest — of your body

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