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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. mate — a partner
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. march — music
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. march — the month
  8. field — farmland
  9. present — there
  10. march — the month
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. mate — to breed
  13. wind — moving air
  14. game — wild animals
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — the time now
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. field — for sport
  19. wind — moving air
  20. game — a match
  21. mate — a friend
  22. field — a subject
  23. perch — the fish
  24. hide — animal skin

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