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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. kid — child
  3. last — final
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. perch — the fish
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. kid — to tease
  10. chair — a leader
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. fine — all right
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. last — to go on
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. rock — music
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. fine — high quality
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. rock — a stone

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