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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 124 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. wind — moving air
  3. dip — to sink
  4. sharp — clever
  5. mate — a friend
  6. fine — high quality
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. mate — a partner
  11. perch — the fish
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mate — to breed
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bark — to shout
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. dip — to dunk

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