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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. wind — moving air
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — to play on
  10. bear — the animal
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. vault — a safe
  13. stem — to come from
  14. wind — moving air
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bear — the animal
  19. perch — the fish
  20. cold — not warm
  21. swing — in golf
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cold — an illness

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