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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. season — of the year
  7. face — to confront
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. stock — shares
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bat — the animal
  14. season — in sport
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. face — to point toward
  18. hand — in cards
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. hand — help
  22. face — part of the head
  23. stock — goods
  24. mine — for digging

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