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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. pound — a weight
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bat — the animal
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. shower — to wash
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. spring — a coil
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. perch — the fish
  19. spring — the season
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. spring — of water
  23. wind — moving air
  24. shower — rain

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