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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — the fish
  3. snap — to click
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. tube — the underground
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. pound — a weight
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cold — not warm
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. current — of water
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — an illness
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. lie — to recline
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. tube — a container
  23. current — electric
  24. current — happening now

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