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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 common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. mug — to rob
  5. root — of a word
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. field — a subject
  14. mug — a cup
  15. track — to keep track
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cold — not warm
  18. track — a song
  19. track — a path
  20. root — of a plant
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. mug — a face
  23. root — the cause
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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