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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. squash — to crush
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. squash — the sport
  7. scale — size or range
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. ground — the earth
  10. shower — rain
  11. perch — the fish
  12. ground — a position
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pound — a weight
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. ground — crushed
  19. scale — in music
  20. shower — to wash
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. squash — the vegetable

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