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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. swing — in golf
  4. field — farmland
  5. date — the fruit
  6. foot — a measure
  7. race — a contest
  8. spring — the season
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. swing — to play on
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. field — a subject
  15. perch — the fish
  16. field — for sport
  17. craft — boats
  18. craft — a skill
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. swing — music
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — the arms race
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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