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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. tear — from crying
  5. dip — to sink
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. tear — from crying
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. game — a match
  10. pit — a hole
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. kick — in football
  14. pit — in a race
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. game — wild animals
  22. tear — to rip
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. scale — in music

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