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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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. perch — the fish
  3. pop — to visit
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mine — for digging
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. net — after costs
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. saw — the tool
  12. hand — help
  13. saw — the tool
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. hand — in cards
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. pop — soda
  18. net — in sport
  19. wake — a trail
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. net — for catching
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. pop — music
  24. perch — for a bird

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