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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. board — to get on
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spring — of water
  6. mate — a friend
  7. perch — the fish
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. net — for catching
  12. mate — to breed
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. cold — an illness
  15. net — after costs
  16. sharp — clever
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. board — a committee
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. net — in sport
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. mate — a partner

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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