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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. club — for golf
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. shower — rain
  7. cold — not warm
  8. club — a group
  9. race — the arms race
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. race — humankind
  13. land — to come down
  14. cold — an illness
  15. land — a country
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — to eat
  19. land — ground
  20. shower — to wash
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. perch — the fish
  23. club — for dancing
  24. race — a contest

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