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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. club — a group
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. staff — employees
  5. band — a ring
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. club — for dancing
  9. band — a music group
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. spell — letters
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. spring — a coil
  16. staff — a stick
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. spell — magic
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. spell — a short time
  23. staff — employees
  24. club — for golf

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