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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — in sport
  5. net — after costs
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. scale — in music
  10. tear — from crying
  11. spring — a coil
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. perch — the fish
  14. tear — to rip
  15. charge — in control
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. scale — size or range
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. tear — from crying
  23. charge — a price
  24. kick — in football

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