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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. field — for sport
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. perch — the fish
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. field — a subject
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. mine — for digging
  19. field — farmland
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. perch — for a bird

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