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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. band — a music group
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. perch — the fish
  9. kid — child
  10. spring — of water
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. field — farmland
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. band — a ring
  16. field — a subject
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spring — a coil
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. kid — to tease
  22. spring — the season
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. field — for sport

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