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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. date — the fruit
  5. cap — of ice
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. net — after costs
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. pitch — completely
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. net — in sport
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. cap — a hat
  20. net — for catching
  21. snap — to click
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cell — in biology

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