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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. file — a line of people
  3. tear — from crying
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. chest — of your body
  7. file — a document
  8. chest — of your body
  9. tear — from crying
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. mate — a friend
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. mate — a partner
  14. tear — to rip
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. file — a tool
  18. cold — an illness
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. chest — a box
  23. mate — to breed
  24. cold — not warm

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