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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 water is too ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. perch — the fish
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cue — a hint
  5. charge — in control
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cue — for pool
  8. charge — a price
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. game — wild animals
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. game — a match
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. cue — a signal
  16. bark — to shout
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. cold — an illness
  20. charge — electricity
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fall — the season
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. game — a kind of play

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