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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 116 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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. spring — a coil
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. wind — moving air
  12. track — a path
  13. spring — the season
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. degree — an amount
  16. perch — the fish
  17. dip — to sink
  18. track — to keep track
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. degree — from a university
  22. track — a song
  23. spring — of water
  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