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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. land — a country
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. wake — a trail
  8. land — to come down
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. land — ground
  12. date — the fruit
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. march — music
  20. perch — the fish
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — of a word
  24. root — the cause

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