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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. craft — boats
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. perch — the fish
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. net — after costs
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. net — in sport
  17. roll — a cake
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. rash — a series
  21. roll — a list
  22. net — for catching
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. fan — a supporter

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